The Reichsannalen are a class of annals composed anonymously in the Carolingian Empire throughout the 9th century. They first appeared under Pepin the Short in 741 and became ubiquitous at monasteries throughout the empire in the following decades. They were not official court annals, but they often bear the bias of having been written in one regnum or another.
29-603: The Annales laureshamenses , also called Annals of Lorsch (AL), are a set of Reichsannalen (annals of the Frankish empire ) that cover the years from 703 to 803, with a brief prologue. The annals begin where the "Chronica minora" of the Anglo-Saxon historian Bede leaves off—in the fifth year of the Emperor Tiberios III —and may have originally been composed as a continuation of Bede. The annals for
58-660: A result of the Napoleonic Wars , the monks of Sankt-Blasien moved, with their library, to the Abbey of Sankt-Paul im Lavanttal . In 1820 G. H. Pertz sought the manuscript for the Monumenta Germaniae Historica , but it could not be found and so the MGH version was based on Ussermann's printed edition of 1790. The manuscript was recovered by 1889, when Eberhard Katz edited a new version. Katz described
87-426: A single scribe. The "Sankt-Paul codex", as it is now called, which is the sole surviving quire of an otherwise lost manuscript, was still in the library of Sankt-Blasien in 1790, when it was edited by Aemilianus Ussermann , bishop of Bamberg , in his collection of documents illustrative of " Alemannian " German history, Germaniae sacrae prodomus seu collectio monumentorum res Alemannicas illustrantium . In 1809, as
116-599: Is mentioned, whereas all the Lorsch abbots of the period receive obituaries. These Lorsch annals may have been circulated in batches of years, before they were completed. The nature of the Sankt-Paul codex supports the contention that unfinished batches of annals were circulated in libelli (booklets) comprising single quires. A copy of the Lorsch annals eventually found its way into the Marca Hispanica , where it
145-512: Is no evidence, however, that the annals that best correspond to Richbod's abbacy in fact originate from Lorsch, and so they can provide little support for Fichtenau's attribution. The text of the oldest manuscript of the Annales regni francorum , discovered at Lorsch and long kept in the Bavarian ducal library, closely resemble the Lorsch annals for the years 789–93. The year entries unique to
174-512: Is written in Alemannian script. It was discovered in Vienna in 1551 by Wolfgang Lazius . Katz argued that both the Vienna fragment and the Sankt-Paul codex are derived from an earlier exemplar. Though the Sankt-Paul codex is later, it is not a copy of the Vienna, since it contains errors that must originate in some other exemplar. There is an ongoing debate whether the Vienna fragment represents
203-489: The Annales Sangallenses maiores . They depict a limited number of events, in short prose, but their value to scholars is in their medieval representational style. They are notable for their very short, cursory style and limited narrative. To the modern scholar, they might appear to be incomplete, and for that reason, of limited value. However, in recent years, historians such as Hayden White have argued that
232-760: The Annales Vedastini appear and form the basis for the Chronicon Vedastinum , a universal chronicle continuing until 899. In the 10th century, the Reichsannalen died out: Flodoard of Reims is the only real example, writing from 919 to 966. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). " Ecclesiastical Annals ". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Annales alamannici The Annales Alamannici provide one of
261-969: The Liber Pontificalis , the Annales Mosellani , and the Annales Laureshamenses . During the reign of Charlemagne , Reichsannalen proliferate: the Annales Laurissenses minores (c.806), the Annales Maximiani (810–811) and the Annals of Flavigny (816) crop up. The Annales Fuldenses , the most famous of them all, appear in the reign of Louis the Pious . They have a regional, East Frankish character, but purport to record national events. The author must certainly have been in touch with
290-567: The Annales were more trustworthy than Einhard, others have argued that Charlemagne's policy towards the Byzantine empire both before and after 800 shows little support for the pope's initiative. What Einhard shows Charlemagne objecting to is the Roman imperial title, not necessarily equality with the Byzantine emperors; thus the emphasis the Annales laureshamenses place on justifying the "name of
319-404: The Annales laureshamenses may have been written in 803 as a single coherent narrative in annal form as a response to the "slant" of the Annales regni francorum . The Lorsch annals for the years from 799 to 801 demonstrate its own slant in stressing the legitimacy of Charlemagne's imperial title. The Lorsch annalist argues that the absence of the nomen imperatoris (name of the emperor) in 800 and
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#1732772493602348-644: The femineum imperium (female empire) of the Byzantines at the time justified the Pope in granting the imperial title to Charlemagne, who already held Rome, the imperial capital, and all the imperial cities in Gallia , Germania , and Italia . The most complete version of the Annales laureshamenses , from the library at Sankt-Paul, is a universal history that begins with a preface describing its dating scheme, adopted from Orosius ' Seven Books of History Against
377-457: The Lorsch annals was Richbod , a pupil of Alcuin of York and a member of Charlemagne's court circle until about 784. From 785 he was the abbot of Lorsch and from 791 the bishop of Trier . He died in 804. Knowledge of the Synod of Frankfurt , which Richbod attended in 794 and which condemned adoptionism in the same terms as a treatise of Alcuin's, is displayed in the annals under that year. There
406-534: The Pagans and counts 5,199 years from Creation to the Nativity . The anno Domini system is used to date events. The first sixty-five years (703–67) are described in a prose narrative that is not divided into single-year entries. Beginning with the year 768 the work is divided into chapters (1 to 36) and each entry receives a separate line. The manuscript also contains a calendar from 777 to 835 (folios 5r–7r) for
435-592: The Reichsannalen show a greater awareness of external affairs, military manœuvres, and court politics than the cloistered penmen of the monastic annals. The earliest of the annals is the Royal Frankish Annals , dating from 741. For information before that date, the Chronicon Universale ( MGH : Scriptores, XIII, 1–19) was drawn up about 761. The Chronicon contains information derived from Bede , Fredegar , Isidore of Seville ,
464-481: The codex (today lost again), dated it to the ninth century and suggested it originated at the Abbey of Reichenau because of a marginal notice of the burial of Charlemagne's brother-in-law Gerold of Anglachgau there. A fragment of a manuscript conserved in Vienna (now no. 515 in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek ) also contains a section of the Lorsch annals for mid-794 to 803, and was copied around 803. This manuscript too appears to originate at Reichenau, as it
493-792: The court. They cover the period from in 711 until 901 with information drawn from the Annales Laurissenses minores , the Royal Frankish Annals , and the official Annales Lithienses . The counterpart of the Fuldenses is the Annales Bertiniani in West Francia , of a more universal character and probably more objective. They form the source for the Chronicon de gestis Normannorum in Francia . In Lotharingia ,
522-399: The dating of Easter , using the unusual 19-year cycles of Theophilus of Alexandria . This calendar suggests the manuscript may have originated before 835. Significantly, the Lorsch annals are the only primary source to contradict the statement of Einhard that Charlemagne was ignorant of Pope Leo III 's intention to crown him Emperor on 25 December 800. Rather the Lorsch annals state that
551-535: The earliest records of Medieval Europe available. The core text of the Annales Alamannici covers the years 709 through to 799. Spread over several Swabian monasteries, the annals were continued independently in several places, in the Reichenau Abbey up to 939 (continued by Hermannus Contractus ), in Abbey of Saint Gall up to 926. The St. Gallen version was continued from 927 to 1059 as
580-464: The emperor". In the Lorsch annals, the year 802 ends with the arrival of the elephant Abul-Abbas at Charlemagne's court. The year 803 is recounted briefly: Charlemagne held Easter at Aachen, held an assembly at Mainz, and did not go on campaign all year. And there the annals end. Reichsannalen The Reichsannalen are distinguished from earlier and later classes of annals by their coverage of supranational and not just local events; they covered
609-406: The entire empire. Though usually composed at monasteries, they are contrasted with monastic annals which emphasise ecclesiastical and especially local happenings over those of the larger Reich . Some historians, such as Ranke ( Zur Kritik fränkisch-deutscher Reichsannalisten . Berlin, 1854) have seen a sheen of officiality in the various annals for the kings whose reigns they cover. The authors of
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#1732772493602638-607: The idea was discussed at an assembly held in Rome after Charlemagne's arrival (24 November), probably beginning on 30 November or 1 December. This entry was drawn up only after Charlemagne's return to Francia in 801, since an entry under 799 reports how the conspirators who overthrew Leo in April that year were then in exile. They were only finally exiled early in 801. This entry has, however, generated as much controversy as Einhard's statement of Charlemagne's ignorance. While Ganshof argued that
667-472: The original copy of the annalist, who was probably from the region of Alemannia. Four distinct scribal hands have been identified in the Vienna fragment, corresponding to different entries: The post-785 annals in the Sankt-Paul and Vienna manuscripts do not show any special connexions with Lorsch and were probably composed elsewhere. They may have been written nearly continuously from 785, or in spurts with months or years between additions. The Lorsch annals for
696-458: The years 732 to 802, and which comprise a section of the Historia regum of Simeon of Durham , contain a reference to the golden lettering of the poetic epitaph on the marble memorial Charlemagne provided to commemorate Pope Hadrian I . This may have been derived from the Lorsch annals, which are the only continental source to provide the detail. Heinrich Fichtenau argued that the author of
725-408: The years up to 751. Since the Lorsch annals of 785 were based on an erroneous copy of these Murbach annals, events in the 750s are consistently mis-dated. The frequency of references to the abbey of Lorsch between the years 764 and 785 suggests that the work of compilation done in 785 was performed there. The Abbey of Gorze is also mentioned, but less frequently, and the death of only one of its abbots
754-534: The years up to 785 are almost identical with the Annales mosellani and also with those of the Fragmentum chesnii , which also shares with the Sankt-Paul version a brief extension to the year 786. From the year 785, the Lorsch annals being dating events since the death of Gregory the Great (605). The 785 entry contains a reference to the "present", indicating perhaps that the original compilation of annals 703–85
783-423: The years up to 785 were written at the Abbey of Lorsch (whence the name), but are dependent on earlier sources. Those for the years from 785 onward form an independent source and provide especially important coverage of the imperial coronation of Charlemagne in 800. The Annales laureshamenses have been translated into English. An eight-leaf copy of the Lorsch annals for 703–803 was produced probably in 835 by
812-554: Was made in the latter year. The annals for 785–803 were compiled independently and not necessarily at Lorsch. This original stem—the Lorsch Annals of 785 —from which all three annalistic traditions diverge after 785 was probably composed at the Abbey of Lorsch . Textually it is related to the Annales nazariani , Annales guelferbytani , and Annales alamannici , all depending on the earlier, hypothetical "Murbach Annals", composed at Murbach Abbey (founded 727) and covering
841-569: Was used by the compiler(s) of the Chronicle of Moissac . The Belgian historian François-Louis Ganshof believed that the Chronicle of Moissac represented a fuller version of the Lorsch annals that had been extended down to 818. More likely, the years 803–18 in the Moissac chronicle are derived from another source with a different geographic focus. The so-called " Northern Annals " that cover
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