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Richard of Poitiers († ca. 1174), also known as Richard of Cluny, a monk of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny, and author of a universal chronicle, a brief catalogue of Popes and Emperors and a handful of poems.

Contents 1 Life 2 Writings 2.1 Chronica 2.2 Catalogus 2.3 Rhythmi 3 Historiographical Contribution 3.1 Relation to Contemporaries 3.2 Influence on Later History Writing 4 Notes 5 Bibliography 5.1 Editions and Translations 5.2 Secondary Sources 6 See also 7 External Links

[edit] Life

Little is known about the life of Richard of Poitiers beyond the barest biographical details suggested in the title and dedication prefacing his Chronica. His name, Richardus Pictauiensis indicates that he was a native of the region of Poitou, France. He calls himself a monachus cluniacensis; an ambiguous term suggesting either that he was a monk of the Abbey of Cluny or that he was a member of the Europe-wide network of Cluniac monasteries (the Ecclesia Cluniacensis).^[1] Academic studies have identified no further conclusive evidence for his life or background. On the basis of unique local material in a single manuscript of Richard's Chronica, Élie Berger concluded that he resided in a Cluniac priory on the island of Aix in Poitou. The subsequent work of I. Schnack suggested, in contrast, that Richard wrote in the scriptorium of the Abbey of Cluny. The lack of any conclusive evidence make it difficult to resolve this disagreement.^[2] From Richard's dedication to Peter the Venerable, it is evident that Richard was at work by 1156, the year of Peter's death. The poems attributed to Richard's authorship include an ode to London, and a condemnation of sea sickness, both of which suggest that Richard travelled beyond the confines of medieval France.^[3]

[edit] Writings

[edit] Chronica

"To make provision for posterity, therefore, it pleases me to add, if not the sum of all things, then what little I am able to know about [the history] preceding our own times, and what happened during that time in different parts of the world. Though [what occurred was] often disparate, it was established under a single rational end."

Richard's Dedicatory Epistle, as translated in Saurette (2005).

Richard's major work bears the title Chronica Richardi Pictauiensis, monachus cluniacensis de diuersis libris collecta (The Chronicle of Richard of Poitiers, monk of Cluny, compiled from numerous sources), which draws attention to the work's nature as largely compilation.

In his dedication, Richard offers a list of sources consulted in writing his chronicle:

In this work, I excerpt from the books of Augustine, Jerome, [Isidore of Seville |[Isidore]], Theodolfus, Josephus, Hegesippus, Eutropius, Titus Livy, Suetonius, Aimoinus, Justinus (the abridger or excerptor of Pompeius Trogus), Freculphus, Orosius, Anastasius (the librarian of the Roman see), Anneus Florus, Gregory, Bede, Ado, Gildas (the historian of Britain), the monk Paul (historian of the Lombards), and of a few others.^[4]

Despite this apparent openness, Richard cites historians, such as Suetonius and Aimonius, whom he likely only knew second hand. He also does not fully reference all his sources. In addition to the sources cited explicitly, Richard's chronicle tacitly includes material from contemporary historians, such as Fulcher of Chartres fantastical literature, such as the Pseudo-Alexander's Letter from Alexander to Aristotle and Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of England.^[5]

[edit] Catalogus

[edit] Rhythmi

Although the sixteenth-century bibliophile John Bale attributes seven poems in total to Richard, the most recent editor of his poems (or rhythmi) is unsure which can conclusively be assigned to his authorship.

[edit] Historiographical Contribution

[edit] Relation to Contemporaries

Richard of Poitiers was among the first of a new crop of twelfth-century French chroniclers to compose a universal history. Within French-speaking regions, the genre of the universal chronicle had languished after the Carolingian works of Frechulfus of Liseaux and Ado of Vienne. Interest in composing this kind of work was rejeuvenated by Hugh of St. Victor's historiographical treatise, De tribus maximis circumstantiis gestorum, a text Richard alludes to in his prologue.

[edit] Influence on Later History Writing

The writings of Richard of Poitiers received a relatively wide circulation. In number of extant manuscripts, his chronicle ranks alongside Otto of Freising's Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa, and Robert of Gloucester's Metrical Chronicle. The distribution of manuscripts in France, Spain, England, Italy and Germany, and its inclusion in monastic, episcopal and noble libraries suggest a broad audience. Subsequent chroniclers, such as Amaury Augier, Martin of Troppau, William Rede, continued Richard's text into their own times, and Richard is noted as an accomplished historian by such humanists as Johann von Heidenberg, Conrad Gesner and Gerard Vossius. In the seventeenth century, his chronicle was conflated with the Liber Exerptionum written by Richard of Saint Victor, a misunderstanding that was repeated often until the publication of extracts of Richard's chronicle first by Edmond Martène, and later by Luigi Muratori. These early editors judged Richard's Chronicle to be overly derivative and only edited only the concluding portions of his chronicle. A complete edition of the work has never been completed.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Editions and Translations

[edit] Secondary Sources

[edit] See also

• Peter the Venerable
• Hugh Primas

[edit] External Links

(German) Richard von Cluny