Marianus Scotus (1028–1082 or 1083) was an
Irish monk and
chronicler.[1] He authored the Chronica Clara, a history of the world.[2]
Name
Marianus Scotus is
Latin for "
Marian the
Scot", although that term at the time was still inclusive of the Irish. He is sometimes known as Marianus Scotus of Mainz to distinguish him from
Marianus Scotus of Regensburg and sometimes called Máel Brigte (Modern
Irish: Maelbhríde), "
Brigit's Servant". The name "Marianus" ('devotee of Mary') was doubtless given on the occasion of his becoming a monk on the Continent.[3]
Life
An
Irishman by birth, he was educated by a certain
Tigernach and, having become a
monk in 1052,[4] he travelled to Germany, on the continental mainland, in 1056, and his subsequent life was passed in the abbeys of St Martin at
Cologne and of
Fulda, and at
Mainz. He died in Mainz on 22 December 1082 or 1083,[5] and was buried in
Mainz Cathedral.
Works
Marianus wrote a Clear Chronicle (
Latin: Cronica Clara), which purports to be a
universal history from the creation of the world to 1082[6] and which employed a dual numbering scheme on the misunderstanding that the
Christian era computed by
Dionysius Exiguus had been mistaken by 22 years. The chronicle was very popular during the
Middle Ages and, in England, was extensively used by
John of Worcester and other writers.[7] It was first printed at
Basel in 1559[8] and has been edited with an introduction by
Georg Waitz for the Monumenta Germaniae Historica:
Scriptores, Vol. V.[9]
Codex Palatino-Vaticanus 830 contains the Tripartite Chronicle of Marianus Scotus.
Sedulius Scottus (9th century), Irish teacher, grammarian and Scriptural commentator
References
Citations
^New Catholic Encyclopedia: Mab-Mor - Page 163 2003 "Marianus Scotus of Mainz, chronicler; b. Ireland, 1028; d. Mainz, Germany, Dec. 22, 1082 or 1083. Marianus (in Irish Moel Brigte) entered the monastery of Mag Bile (Moville, Co. Down) when he was 24 years old. He left Ireland in 1056, during ...":
^Leonard E. Boyle Medieval Latin Palaeography: A Bibliographical Introduction 1984 - Page 97 "the chronicle of Marianus Scotus of Mainz"
^Naomi Reed Kline Maps of Medieval Thought: The Hereford Paradigm 2001 Page 221 "In particular she cites the importance of the Universal Chronicle of Marianus Scotus of Mainz which was brought to Hereford by Bishop Robert of Hereford (1079-95);"
^CHRONICA: ad Euangelij ueritatem,… first edition: Jacobus Parcus, Basel, 1559 One issue can be retrieved in the
Stadtbibliothek Mainz [Sign. IV e:2°/93].
^See also
W. Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen (Bd. ii., 1894).