Bede’s primary source for the Vulgate chronology in his chronicles in De temporibus and De temporum ratione

Daniel Mc Carthy

Mommsen’s 1898 assumption that Bede had compiled the Vulgate chronology of his De temporibus and De temporum ratione has been simply reiterated by scholars ever since. But critical collation of Bede’s chronicles with the Irish Annals leads to the conclusion that their common features, including their Vulgate chronology, derive from a common source that originated in a chronicle compiled by Rufinus of Aquileia (†410). By the year 538, Rufinus’ chronicle was being continued in Ireland, and this continuation was transferred to Iona before the end of the sixth century. Around 687, Adomnán, then abbot of Iona, presented to Aldfrith, king of Northumbria, a copy of the world history in the Iona annals extending as far as the reign of the emperor Justinian, who ruled 685–695, and also a copy of his own De locis sanctis. By 703, these works had reached Bede and he compiled epitomes of them both. Subsequently, in 725, he again edited this copy of the Iona annals to compile his world-chronicle in De temporum ratione. Thus it was Adomnán’s copy of the Iona annals that served as Bede’s primary source for the Vulgate chronology of his De temporibus and De temporum ratione.

Daniel Mc Carthy. “Bede’s primary source for the Vulgate chronology in his chronicles in De temporibus and De temporum ratione”, in Studia Traditionis Theologiae 5: Computus and its Cultural Context in the Latin West, AD 300-1200: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on the Science of Computus in Ireland and Europe, Galway, 14-16 July, 2006, pp. 159-189. Brepols, 2010.

BEDE’S PRIMARY SOURCE FOR THE VULGATE CHRONOLOGY IN HIS CHRONICLES IN DE TEMPORIBUS AND DE TEMPORUM RATIONE… by Venerabilis Beda on Scribd

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