One of the most useful tools in learning history is the timeline. A chronological list of significant events gives the reader a quick, lucid view of the subject, as well as serving as a framework in which to place deeper studies.
An unknown chronicler in ninth-century Wessex evidently felt the same way: He compiled a list of significant events in British history from the year 1 to 891 A.D. The earliest portion of the document jumps over many years and even decades, but by the seventh century the anonymous writer provided an entry for almost every year. The result was a timeline that we now know as The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
It is believed that King Alfred the Great (d. 899) may have ordered the compilation of this significant historical document, although there is no direct evidence. But whether or not he issued a directive instigating the project, the Chronicle was very likely influenced by the learned king and the scholarly works he encouraged. Alfred himself translated The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius and Pastoral Care by Pope Gregory I into English, and scholars of the time had an opportunity to pursue their research and write their histories thanks in large part to the king's patronage.
Why is The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle so important? In part, because it was written by an Anglo-Saxon in his own language: Old English, as opposed to the Latin used by most scholars of the day. Though by no means exhaustive, it is a comprehensive survey of a nation's past by a native of that nation. And while its accuracy is certainly not indisputable, it provides an enormous amount of information we would not otherwise have about Britain's history.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle did not stop with the year 891 or with a single Wessex chronicler. But we can thank the anonymous scribe for the timeline format. For the first six hundred years of history, most entries consist of only one or two sentences:
- A.D. 482. This year the blessed Abbot Benedict shone in this world, by the splendour of those virtues which the blessed Gregory records in the book of Dialogues.
A.D. 485. This year Ella fought with the Welsh nigh Mecred's-Burnsted.
A.D. 488. This year Esc succeeded to the kingdom; and was king of the men of Kent twenty-four winters.
A.D. 490. This year Ella and Cissa besieged the city of Andred, and slew all that were therein; nor was one Briten left there afterwards.
The format may be simple, but the story of how The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle evolved is a little more complex.
