History
That Byrhtferth was responsible for the early sections
(up to 887) of the Historia regum (History of the Kings)
attributed to the 12th-century writer Simeon of Durham
is suggested by the stylistic affi nity of those sections
with Byrhtferth’s other works. Byrhtferth’s work is di-
verse and might be better characterized as a “historical
miscellany” than as a history. It contains the following
sections: 1) legends of Kentish saints; 2) lists of Nor-
thumbrian kings; 3) material based mainly on Bede’s
Historia abbatum; 4) a chronicle covering the years
732–802; 5) a chronicle covering the years 849–87,
based mainly on Asser’s Life of King Alfred.
Like Byrhtferth’s other Latin works the Historia
regum is written in bombastic style, much loved in the
10th century, that modern critics call “hermeneutic.”
Like all of his works it betrays his unusual interest in
computus, in numerology, and in the fi gural interpreta-
tion of biblical history and the material world—some-
times introducing such topics in places that seem to
us inappropriate. Indeed one of the most prominent
characteristics of Byrhtferth’s style is his tendency to
digress suddenly, for reasons that are not always appar-
ent at fi rst glance.
The student should be aware that some older schol-
ars attributed to Byrhtferth an extensive set of glosses
on Bede’s scientifi c works, a life of St. Dunstan, and
two works entitled De principiis mathematicis and De
institutione monachorum. More recent scholarship has
shown that Byrhtferth had nothing to do with the saint’s
life or the glosses on Bede, and it is likely that the other
two works never existed.
See also Bede the Venerable;
Dunstan of Canterbury; Isidore of Seville, SaintFurther ReadingPrimary Sources
Many of the older editions below are unreliable; new editions
are in progress: Arnold, T, ed. Symeonis monachi opera om-
nia. Rolls Series 75. 2 vols. London: Longmans, 1882–85,
2:3–91, except for interpolations at pp. 32–38 and 47–50
[Historia regum].
Baker, Peter S., and Michael Lapidge, eds. Byrhtferth’s Enchirid-
ion. EETS s.s. 15. London: Oxford University Press, 1995
Forsey, G.F., ed. and trans. “Byrhtferth’s Preface.” Speculum 3
(1928): 505–22.
Giles, J.A, ed. Vita quorundum Anglo-Saxonum. London: Caxton
Society, 1854, pp. 349–96. Repr. New York: Burt Franklin,
1967 [Life of St. Ecgwine].
Raine, J., ed. Historians of the Church of York. Rolls Series 71.3
vols. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1879, 1:399–475 [Life
of St. Oswald].
Secondary Sources
Baker, Peter S. “The Old English Canon of Byrhtferth of Ramsey.”
Speculum 55 (1980): 22–37.
Baker, Peter S. “Byrhtferth’s Enchiridion and the Computus in
Oxford, St John’s College 17.” ASE 10 (1981): 123–42.
Hart, C.R. “Byrhtferth’s Northumbrian Chronicle.” EHR 97
(1982): 558–82.
Lapidge, Michael. “Byrhtferth and the Vita S. Ecgwini.” MS 41
(1979): 331–53. Repr. in Anglo-Latin Literature, 900–1066.
London: Hambledon, 1993, pp. 293–315.
Lapidge, Michael. “Byrhtferth of Ramsey and the Early Sections
of the Historia regum Attributed to Symeon of Durham.”
ASE 10 (1981): 97–122. Repr. in Anglo-Latin Literature,
900–1066. London: Hambledon, 1993, pp. 317–42.
Peter S. BakerBYRHTFERTH