Nicholas Paul Vatican City, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Reg. Lat 173, f. 1r (via DigiVatLib) Manuscripts: (Unique) Vatican City, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat. 173, ff. 1-8v. This is the first quire of a composite manuscript containing texts related to St. Michael of La Chiusa (ff. 9r-62v) and the Opusculum of Fulgentius (ff. 63r-94v). For further info see Andreas Wilmart, Bibliothecae Vaticanae: Codices reginenses latini (Vatican City, 1937), vol 1: 407-409. Editions: "Fragmentum historiae Andegavensis," in Chroniques des comtes d'Anjou et des seigneurs d'Amboise, ed. Louis Halphen and Renée Poupardin (Paris, 1913), 232-246. Translations: Description: The so-called "chronicle of Fulk le Réchin" (no title is provided in the unique manuscript) is a first-person narrative purportedly written by Count Fulk IV le Réchin (r. 1067/8-1109). The narrative begins with a short summary of his family history until the time of his uncle Geoffrey Martel, At this moment, Fulk appeared to want to narrate his own family history but the narrative instead proceeds to relate the coming of Pope Urban II to Angers, the preaching of the First Crusade, and the departure of the crusade expedition. Importance for the study of Angevin history: The Chronicle of Fulk le Réchin was produced nearly sixty years before the accession of Henry II, and was almost certainly lost or unknown to any writer of his reign. It's relevance to Angevin history, therefore, stems from what it tells us about the rise of the Angevin dynasty in the eleventh century, and the tensions that began to arise as a result of Angevin power in western Francia. As a written record of the reflections of a lay prince, it is also precious evidence of the use of literacy and of the importance of memory and reputation among the aristocracy. Fulk repeatedly invokes the probitas of his ancestors, a term equally important at the court of Henry II, by which time it would begin to be associated with the qualities of chivalry. The resort to writing and history as a response to crisis in Fulk's reign, which also saw the production of the Anjou genealogies and the earliest iteration of the Latin dynastic history Chronica de gestis consulum Andegavorum also foreshadows similar flowerings of literary production and experimentation in the reign of Henry II, when history and family history once again became a major concern of writers and courtiers. Bibliography:
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