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© Copyright A.T.Fomenko, G.V.Nosovskij
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(SHORT SCHEME)
ABSTRACT
This article is devoted to the investigation of
traditional version of English chronology and English history. It
should be mentioned that this tradition was established only in
15-17th cc.(and especially by Scaliger and Petavius) as a result
of attempts to construct the global chronology of Europe and Asia
at that time.
The results of our investigation show that modern version of
English history (which is in fact a slightly modernized version
of 15-16th cc.), was artificially prolonged backward and became
much more long as it was in reality. The real history of England,
as it was reflected in written documents, was much more short.
The same is true for other countries.
In correct version, ancient and medieval English events are
to be transferred to the epoch which begins from 9-10th cc.
Moreover, many of these events prove to be the reflections of
certain events from real Byzantine-Roman history of 9-15th cc.
Consequently, the Great Britain Empire is a direct successor of
medieval Byzantine Empire.
This effect for English history corresponds to the similar
"shortening effects" for traditional histories of other countries
(Italy, Greece, Egypt, Russia etc.). Such effects were discovered
earlier by the authors (see our previous publications). A
discussion of the whole problem of global chronology and a
history of this problem one can find in [1],[24]. English history
is not an exemption from the "rule".
We do not think that all speculations which are suggested
here are final ones. Surely, they are subject to further
corrections and clarification. Nevertheless, the general concept
is quite clear and seems to be a final one.
The aim of present work is only to present main points of our
new version of reconstruction of the real English history.
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. BRIEF REVIEW OF TRADITIONAL ENGLISH HISTORY
2.1. The most old English chronicles
2.1.1. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
2.1.2. Nennius' "Historia Brittonum"
2.1.3. Galfridus Monemutensis' "Historia Brittonum".
"Histoires of the kings of Britain by Geoffrey of
Monmouth"
2.1.4. Some other old English chronicles
2.2. What were the medieval names for modern cities, nations and
countries according to ancient English chronicles?
2.3. An overview of traditional concept of English history
2.3.1. Scotland and England: two parallel "dynastic
streams"
2.3.2. English history. Epoch from 1st to 445 A.D. England
as the Roman colony
2.3.3. Epoch from 445 to 830. Six kingdoms and their
union
2.3.4. Epoch from 830 to 1040. The epoch is finished by
Danish conquest and then by disintegration of
Dutch kingdom in England
2.3.5. Epoch from 1040 to 1066. Epoch of the Old Anglo-Saxon
dynasty and it's fall
2.3.6. Epoch from 1066 to 1327. Norman dynasty and after
it - Anjou dynasty. Two Edwards
2.3.7. Epoch from 1327 to 1602.
3. PARALLELS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND BYZANTINE-ROMAN HISTORY. GREAT
BRITAIN EMPIRE AS THE DIRECT SUCCESSOR OF MEDIEVAL BYZANTINE-ROMAN
EMPIRE
3.1. Rough comparison of dynastic streams of England and
Byzantine-Roman empire
3.2. Dynasty parallelism between ancient and medieval England
from one side and medieval Byzantine empire from another side.
General concept of correspondence between English and
Byzantine histories
3.3. Some details of dynastic parallelism ("parallelism
table")
3.3.1. English history of 640-830 A.D. and Byzantine
history 378-553 A.D. 275-year shift
3.3.2. English history of 800-1040 and Byzantine
history of 553-830. Rigid 275-year shift
3.3.3. English history of 1040-1327 and Byzantine
history of 1143-1453. Rigid 120-year shift
4. CORRECT ENGLISH HISTORY IS MORE SHORT IN TIME BUT MUCH MORE
DENSE IN EVENTS THAN IT IS SUGGESTED BY TEXTBOOKS
4.1. Our new concept of English history
4.2. In which way the Byzantine chronicles were inserted
into the medieval English history (of the island
Anglia)?
5. OLD ENGLISH CHRONICLES AS ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS WHICH SPEAK ABOUT
REAL EVENTS OF 10-13th CENTURIES
5.1. Roman consul Brutus - the first who conquered Britain
(and the first king of britts)
5.2. Consul Brutus of English chronicles - was he a contemporary
of Julius Caesar?
5.3. Biblical events in English chronicles
5.4. Do we interpret ancient texts in a proper way? Problem
of vowels restoration
5.5. Geography and chronology of biblical events
5.5.1. Problems with traditional geographical
localizations
5.5.2. Where ancient Troy was located?
5.5.3. Where Moses traveled in reality?
5.6. Why English chronicles suggested that both Russia and
England were located on islands?
5.7. Where was the land Britain which was conquered by
Brutus located? In what direction his fleet cruised?
5.8. With whom Brutus fights while conquering of Britain =
Albania?
5.9. With whom Julius Caesar fights while conquering of Britain =
Albania?
5.10. Where was London located in 10-11th cc.A.D.?
5.11. Who were scots in 10-12th cc.A.D. and were did they live?
Where was Scotland located in 10-12th cc.A.D.?
5.12. Five original languages of ancient Britain. Which
nations used these languages and where did they live
in 10-12th cc.A.D.?
5.13. Where were located six original English kingdoms
Britain, Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex and Mercia in
10-12th cc.A.D.?
5.14. A shift of originally Byzantine map to the land of
modern Great Britain resulted in duplicating of many
geographical terms
5.15. William I the Conqueror and Hastings battle in 1066
A.D. The fourth crusade in 1204 A.D.
5.15.1. Two well-known wars in England and Byzantine
empire have the same origin
5.15.2. English version of William the Conqueror story
5.15.3. Byzantine version of the Constantinople's
conqueror
5.15.4. A list of correspondences between events from
Byzantine and English chronicles
5.16. Medieval Russia from the point of view of English
chronicles. When did apostle Paul write his message to
galats and who they were?
REFERENCES
1. INTRODUCTION
This work belongs to the scope of investigations carried out
by authors in order to give a critical analysis of ancient and
medieval chronology, and also - to try a reconstruction of real
ancient chronology. The whole history of the problem one can find
in A.T.Fomenko's books [1],[24]. In these books some new
statistical methods of obtaining true dates for ancient events
recorded in old chronicles were suggested. As a result, a new
chronology of Europe, Asia, Egypt and Northern Africa based on a
statistical investigation of ancient texts, was suggested in
[1],[24]. One also can find there a list of all publications by
A.T.Fomenko and his colleagues devoted to chronological problems.
This new concept of global history and chronology confirms
some ideas which were expressed by different scientists in
16-20th cc. The most important were ideas of famous Russian
scientist N.A.Morozov (1854-1946) who had an extremely wide range
of scientific interests in many different branches of natural
science and history. Very interesting works devoted to the
problems of traditional chronology were written by Isaac Newton,
J.Gardouin, R.Baldauf, E.Johnson and others.
As a result of application of statistical methods to
historical science, A.T.Fomenko discovered a "fiber structure" of
our modern "textbook in ancient and medieval history". In such a
way we will call a modern chronological tradition in history
which is expressed in all our textbooks. It was proved that this
"textbook" consist of four more short "textbooks" which speak
about the same events, the same historical epochs. These short
"textbooks" were then shifted one with respect to other on the
time axis and then glued together preserving these shifts. The
result is our modern "textbook" which shows the history much
longer than it was in reality. To be more precise, we speak here
only about a "written" history, i.e., such history which left
it's traces in written documents which finally, after their
certain evolution, we possess today. Of course before it, there
was a long "pre-written" history, but information about it is
lost.
Resume is as follows. History which we in principle could
learn about today, starts only in 9-10th cc. "A.D." (i.e.,
1100-1200 years ago). And the very name "A.D." attached to the
era which we use now, is not correct.
New results concerning the problem of reconstruction of real
ancient chronology one can find in two last Fomenko's books
[4,5] devoted to history and chronology.
An important step to the reconstruction of real ancient
chronology was made by publication of a book [3] written by
A.T.Fomenko, V.V.Kalashnikov and G.V.Nosovskij. In this book the
true date of compilation of a famous ancient scientific
manuscript, the Ptolemy's "Almagest", was (approximately)
determined as a result of statistical analysis of numerical
astronomical data in the "Almagest". Traditionally it is assumed
that the "Almagest" was compiled not later than in 2nd c. A.D. In
[3] it is proved that the real date of it's compilation belongs
to the time interval from 7th century to 13th century A.D.
Later, in 1992-1993, A.T.Fomenko and G.V. Nosovskij applied
new statistical methods to Russian history. In Russian history
there also were discovered chronological shifts and duplicates.
It proves to be very much different from well-known version of
Russian history which was suggested in epoch of Romanov dynasty
reign in Russia. The book "Chronology and General Concept of
Russian History" by A.T.Fomenko and G.V. Nosovskij is being
printed (in Russian).
In 1992-1993 authors recognized that the history of
development of English chronology and English history itself is a
very interesting and important point in the whole scope of global
chronology reconstruction. In our analysis of Russian old
documents it was necessary to use also some English documents.
And immediately we came upon several such amazing facts that, it
become quite clear to us that English history (which is rather
"spoiled" in modern "textbook") gives new and important
information to the reconstruction of real chronology of Europe
and Asia.
We tried our best to make this work independent from our
previous works. Nevertheless, such dependence exists. That is why
we recommend to anyone who really wants to understand the whole
problem of reconstruction the English history as it as in
reality, to look through mentioned above books and scientific
publications by authors. We believe that this work is good for
the beginning and it could serve as a starting point to the
reader. We tried to avoid citation from other our works here (as
far as it was possible).
It is pleasure for us to thank Mrs. Laura Alexander (USA) for
her excellent assistance in arranging materials concerning
English history. Her energy very much inspired our work on
English history.
We thank T.N.Fomenko for several good ideas which improved
some of our results concerning parallels between English and
Byzantine history and also for valuable remarks which made this
text better.
2. BRIEF REVIEW OF TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF ENGLISH HISTORY
2.1. The most old English chronicles
2.1.1. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
To understand a material we are going to present here, it
would be better if a reader knows main things from English, Roman
and Byzantine history. As to Roman and Byzantine history, we
assume that it is more or less the case. But old English history
is not so generally well-known. That is why we are going to
present here a brief review of "English history textbook".
Surely, we could simply suggest that a reader looks through
one of modern books concerned with English history before he
reads this paper. But all such books are necessarily the
secondary texts which, in fact, copy an information from more old
texts and documents devoted to English history. The problem is
that this coping proves to be not so good (part of information is
lost). That is why we prefer to analyse medieval historical texts
themselves rather then modern textbooks, which are based on them.
An important advantage of these medieval texts is that they were
written more close to the time of creation of now traditional
global chronological version (it was I.Scaliger's one). Our
experience says that an information about old history was been
lost while publishing new and new textbooks from that time up to
now. Medieval texts are more valuable for reconstruction of real
history.
Our analysis was based mostly on three famous medieval
English chronicles: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle [2], Nennius' "Historia
Brittonum" [8] and Galfridus Monemutensis' "Historia Brittonum"
[9]. In fact, these texts form a basis for modern concept of old
and medieval English history.
Also we used well-known "Chronological Tables" which were
compiled by J.Blair [6] in 18th c. - beginning of 19th c. These
fundamental tables cover all historical epochs which seemed
important to experts in the end of 19th century.
Now it is assumed that so-called "legendary" English history
started from the time of Trojan war, i.e., in 12-13th cc. B.C.
Nevertheless a 1000-year period from Trojan war to the epoch of
Julius Caesar (1st c. B.C.) is considered usually as a "dark
time".
From the time of creation and establishment of modern
chronological concept (by I.Scaliger and D.Petavius in 16-17th
cc.) it was assumed that "written" English history starts from 60
B.C. when Julius Caesar conquered the British islands. But it is
known today that documents speak about English history only from
approximately 1 A.D., i.e. from the rein of Octavian Augustus. It
was the 1 A.D. when Anglo-Saxon Chronicle began its records ([2],
p.4).
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle consists of several separate
manuscripts:
Manuscript A: The Parker Chronicle
(60 B.C. - A.D. 1070),
Manuscript B: The Abigdon Chronicle I
(A.D. 1 - A.D. 977),
Manuscript C: The Abigdon Chronicle II
(60 B.C. - A.D. 1066),
Manuscript D: The Worcester Chronicle
(A.D. 1 - A.D. 1079),
(with twelfth-century addition 1080 - 1130 A.D.),
Manuscript E: The Laud (Petersburg) Chronicle
(A.D. 1 - A.D. 1153),
Manuscript F: The Bilingual Canterbury Epitome
(A.D. 1 - A.D. 1058).
It is well-known that all these manuscripts duplicate each
other in the sense that they all speak about the same events, but
in more or less details. That is why all they are placed in the
publication [2] parallel to each other in a very convenient
manner, which makes it easy to compare different records
concerning the same year. Maybe, all these manuscripts have the
same written original and in fact represent different scripts of
one old chronicle.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle covers an epoch from 1 A.D. to 11th
century (except manuscript E which stops in 1153).
It is traditionally assumed that all these manuscripts were
written approximately in 11-12th cc., just in the form which we
have today. But it is only a hypothesis which is strongly based
on the Scaliger's chronology. And it sounds not very natural. For
example, manuscript A exists now only in two "copies" and both of
them were made only in 16th c. (see [2], p.xxxiii). The original
version (from which these two copies were made) was practically
burned out in a fire. As to other manuscripts of Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle, their history is not clear from [2]. For example, it
is not pointed out what were the methods of determining of dates
when existing copies were made. One could have an idea that the
dating was as follows: if last records of these manuscripts refer
to 11-12th cc., then the copies we now posses are necessarily
written just in that form in 11-12th cc. Leaving aside other
objections, we must say that this speculation in fully based on
Scaliger's chronology. If real dates of last mentioned events
change, then such dating of a manuscript would also change.
Difficulties with reconstruction of a true story for origin
of these manuscripts are well-known among experts. For
example David Knowles had to claim that:
"The question of provenance and interdependence of the
various versions [of the Chronicle] are so complicated that any
discussion soon assumes the appearance of an essay in higher
mathematics" ([2],p.xxxi).
Moreover, G.N.Garmonsway says that any modern analysis of
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is based on the Charles Plummer's revision
(1892-1899) of it's original edition published by John Earle in
1865. It should be mentioned that manuscripts A and E are again
"associated" (G.N.Garmonsway's expression) with certain persons
from 16th century - Archbishop Parker (1504-1575) and Archbishop
Laud (1573-1645). Here is his text:
"Any account of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is necessary based
on Charles Plummer's revision of the edition of John Earle (1865)
which was published in two volumes by the Oxford University Press
in 1892-9... Plummer's edition... gives prominence on opposite
pages to manuscripts A and E, associated respectively with the
names of Archbishop Parker (1504-75) and Archbishop Laud
(1573-1645);...The other manuscripts were once in the possession
of Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631), and are to be found in the
Cottonian collection of manuscripts in the British
Museum"([2],p.xxxi).
It seems that all the manuscripts of Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
which are available today were actually written (or revised) not
earlier than in 15-16th centuries. However, they are considered
to be written in this form in 11-12th cc. Probably the only
reason for such point of view is that traditional dates of the
last events from Anglo-Saxon Chronicle belong to this epoch:
11-12th cc. But such reason is not enough. It is possible that
events from 11-12th cc. were described by somebody in 15-16th cc.
and we actually possess his secondary text which could be very
far from an original version. And also, the dates of events from
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle strongly depend on a used chronological
concept. If it changes then the dating of Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
would change automatically.
There is a strong argument which suggests that manuscripts
of Anglo-Saxon Chronicle are actually of a rather late origin.
The problem is that all these manuscripts use modern "A.D." era
which came into regular practical use only in 15th century. It is
a known fact in traditional history. Later we will also present
some facts which suggest that the authors of Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle were already familiar with J.Scaliger's chronological
concept (16th c.), and by no means - with a chronological concept
of Matthew Vlastar (16th c.). It means that Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
was written much later then it is usually accepted.
The reason for Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to be paid such great
attention in our reconstruction of English history is very
simple. It turns out that
"Thanks to the example of Bede, the Chronicle is the first
history written in English to use his mastery innovation of
reckoning years as from the Incarnation of Our Lord - "Years of
Grace" as they were called in England."([2],p.xxiv).
Concerning the way of presenting dates in Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle we should make a remark. It is accepted that in
medieval England they used for "A.D." era the following formula:
"Years from the Incarnation of Our Lord". It is accepted today
that this formula was equivalent to the formula "Years of Grace".
But this equivalence in not so evident and requires a special
investigation. (We will return to this subject later and discuss
it in more details). Note that there is a strange similarity
between two well-known names-terms
Grace - Greece.
Maybe the original (and forgotten today) meaning of a
formula "Years of Grace" differs from one which is accepted
today. Maybe it was "years in Greece", "Greek years" or something
like this. It is possible also that there is a relation between
terms Grace, Greece and Christ. Was the name of Christ associated
in some sense with a name of country "Greece"? For example Christ
religion = "Greece religion"? It might be because in medieval
epoch Greece was a name of Byzantine empire, and another it's
name was Romea, Rome. So Christian, "Roman" religion could be
called also as "Greek religion"; but if so then there might be a
confusion between "A.D.", "Christ" era and old "Greek", Byzantine
era which was used sometimes, as well as "A.D.", with it's
thousands omitted. It could be not obvious which era was actually
used in an old documents which indicate "Years of Grace". Of
course, such kind of similarity between different terms could not
be considered as very strong arguments supporting any point of
view. It play a role of preliminary speculations and should be
considered as a serious argument only in the case when it appears
(repeats) constantly in a long historical parallelism, when
similar names arise simultaneously for hundreds of years in two
different epochs after one of them is shifted in time as a whole
and then compared with another one.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was written in a very laconic manner,
it was divided into chapters (fragments) each of them devoted to
a certain year. Many years are not described at all (there are
some lacunas in the text). It is considered today that
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle speaks about events from the beginning of
A.D. to 11-12th centuries. See Fig.1. The text of Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle seem to be really very old. Absence of long and
"beautifully designed" periods in the text (typical for
historical literature of 15-16th cc.) suggests that Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle is an important historical document which was based on
some really ancient records. Surely, it was edited in 16-17th cc.
and a main question is: what credit should we give to
chronologists of 15-17 centuries who actually dated events in
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as we have it now?
2.1.2. Nennius' "Historia Brittonum".
Nennius' "Historia Brittonum" is a rather short text, only
about 24 pages in [8].
There exist more then 30 manuscripts of Nennius' book which
are known today (see [8]).
"The earliest manuscripts are dated today by 9th or 10th
centuries, and the latest - by 13th or even 14th centuries. In
some of the manuscripts are indications that the author was
Gildas. Nennius is called as the author sufficiently rare. Thus,
this manuscript is possibly - compilation... The original text
was lost, we do not have it today. But there exists its Irish
translation of 11th century" ([8],p.269).
Translation was made from the publication: "Nennius et
l'Historia brittonum", P.,1934.
Some manuscripts are ended with pages from "Annals Cambriae",
which is considered to be compiled approximately in 954 A.D.
Nennius' "Historia Brittonum" does not have nor chronological
subdivision neither any chronological notes except the following
two ones:
1) A table titled "About six ages of the world" is placed at
the beginning of the "Historia". It presents time distances in
years between some biblical events - and already according to
Scaliger's calculations, which were carried out only in 16th c.
2) Chapter XVI of the "Historia" has a section titled "The
ground of the dating" , which speaks about the relative distances
(in years) between a few events from English history.
In both cases chronological notes are very brief.
Resume is that it is unclear, who and when actually wrote the
"Historia". It's original text does not exist today, a
translation which is considered to be carried out in 11th c. The
text does not have it's own chronological scale. Surely, all
questions which arise with Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, refer to
"Historia" also. Moreover, Nennius' text is written in a free
artistic manner with many stylistic accessories. It suggests that
this manuscript is of rather late origin. Such text could be
written only in an atmosphere of a deep and well developed
literary tradition when many people use writing and reading books
and paper is not a treasure.
It is accepted today that Nennius describes certain events in
a time interval from the epoch of Trojan war to 10-11th cc. A.D.
In fact it is a result of only a traditional chronological
concept (which suggests that short Nennius' text covers an
extremely large 2000-year historical period) that one could find
today giant lacunas in chronology of "Historia". Fig. 1 shows by
a dotted line the epoch which is considered to be covered by
"Historia". According to traditional chronological concept
Nennius easily omits whole centuries in his story, makes giant
chronological jumps without any explanations. He seems not to
notice it at all and continues his story after such jumps as if
nothing was missed.
2.1.3. Galfridus Monemutensis' "Historia Brittonum".
"Histories of the kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth".
It is generally accepted today that this chronicle was
written in 30th or 40th of 12th century ([8], p.196) by
Galfridus Monemutensis who based it on Nennius' text, sometimes
even copying Nennius "errors" ([8], p.231, comments to chap. 17;
see also [8], p.244). Galfridus Monemutensis' book is rather big
one - about 130 pages in [8]. In opposition to Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle his text has no chronological subdivision (no indication
about years). His writing style was rather complicated, with many
accessories, moralities, philosophical excursions et cetera.
Galfridus is even considered to be not a historian only but also
a poet. Surely, the traditional point of view that Galfridus
wrote his book after Nennius, is correct. It is known also that
Galfridus made an extensive use of "Ecclesiastic History of the
English Nation" (in Latin) by Bede Venerable ([9], p.244). It is
assumed that Bede's "History" covers 597-731 A.D.
It is remarkable that modern commentators point out "the
extremely clear and evident Galfridus' orientation of the antique
tradition" ([9], p.207). For example, Galfridus not only used
ancient plots, but also copied a stylistic manner of ancient
authors ([9], p.207). It seems that Galfridus writes his book
being fully influenced by the atmosphere of antiquity. It was
pointed out that Galfridus copies some of his topics directly
from ancient authors (for example, from Stacius), but does not
give any references ([9], p.236).
Galfridus Monemutensis' "Historia Brittonum" was extremely
popular in medieval times. "Today we have about two hundreds (! -
Auth.) copies of his "History",... which were written in
different places starting from 12th century and until 15th
century, i.e., up to appearance of the first printed edition"
([9],p.228). At first time "Historia" was printed in Paris in
1508.
Fig. 1 shows a historical epoch which is assumed to be
covered by Galfridus' text (according to traditional chronology).
Notice that it is approximately the same time interval as for
Nennius' case: namely, from Trojan war up to 8th century A.D. Of
course, Galfridus' book is much bigger then Nennius' one, but
being referred again to the giant 2000-year time interval, it
could not cover it all without huge lacunas. And really,
traditional chronology states that Galfridus "omit" large
historical epochs. But it is strange, that Galfridus himself does
not mind it at all. He calmly continues his story without
notifying a reader that he sometimes actually misses whole
historical epochs in his chronology.
2.1.4. Some other old English chronicles
In our work we use also some other English chronicles of
9-13th centuries, particularly those represented in a book by
V.I.Matuzova "English medieval documents" [10]. Here we would
like to present a very interesting list which was compiled by
V.I.Matuzova as a result of her investigation of these chronicles
rather then to characterize them in details. We will discuss this
subject in the next section.
2.2. What were the medieval names for modern cities, nations
and countries according to ancient English chronicles?
Many people use to think that medieval chronicles refer to
such well-known areas (regions) as England, London, Russia, Kiev
etc. with just the same names as today, and so in general there
is no problem to recognize what place old documents are speaking
about. Sometimes, in more new documents, it is actually the case.
But in more old, original documents such situation seems to be
rather an exception then a rule. Old chronicles very often use
absolutely different geographical names and it is a nontrivial
task to understand what regions (areas, towns et cetera) they are
really speaking about.
It is also a problem that old documents in general use many
different names for each country, land, nation etc. Very often
these names have nothing to do with those we use today. The names
of ancient nations, countries and cities which are known today,
were fixed only in 18-20th centuries. But before that time there
were various opinions concerning what names to use. These
opinions were often quite different from each other. It is a very
interesting question to analyse the names which were used in
medieval English documents for cities, nations and countries
which are so well-known today with their modern names. It turns
out after such analysis, that medieval authors seem to have quite
different views on old and ancient history. That is why modern
specialists in history usually claim that almost all medieval
people were "extremely wrong" in history, that they had
"fantastic concepts" about it, "confused and mixed historical
epochs", "did not distinguish antiquity and medieval epoch" and
so on.
In a following list some medieval "synonyms" of modern
accepted names and terms are presented. Each entry of the list
shows a modern term and is followed by it's medieval synonyms.
AZOV SEA = ALANIA =
Meotedisc lakes, Valana,
Meotedisc fen, Alania,
Maeotidi lacus, Valana,
Maeotidi paludes, Valvy,
palus Maeotis, Polovtzy ?! - see below.
paludes Maeotis,
paludes Maeotidae,
Paluz Meotidienes.
ALBANIANS = AMAZONS LAND =
Liubene, Maegda land,
Albani. Maegda londe,
Amazonia.
BULGARIANS = BUG RIVER =
Wlgari, Armilla.
Bulgari,
Bougreis.
VANDALS = HUNGARY =
Wandali, Hungaria,
Sea-cost Slavs. Hunia,
Ungaria,
Minor Ungaria.
BYZANTINE EMPIRE = VALACHIANS =
Graecia, Coralli,
Constantinopolis, Blachi,
Ilac,
Blac,
Turks ! (see below).
VALACHIA = VOLGA RIVER =
Balchia. Ethilia.
GALITZK-VOLYNSK RUSSIA = GERMANY =
Galacia, Gothia,
Gallacia. Mesia,
Theutonia,
Germania,
Allemania,
Jermaine.
HIBERNIC OCEAN = HIBERNIA =
The English Channel Ireland (!)
Hibernicum occeanum.
GOTHIA = GUNNS =
Germany, Hunni,
Island Gotland, Huni,
Scandinavia, Hun.
Tavrida (=old name of Crimea).
DACKS = DENMARK =
Dani, Denemearc,
Daneis. Dacia,
Dania,
Desemone.
DUTCH = DARDANELLES (the strait) =
Daci, St. Georg strait =
Dani, branchium Sancti Georgii.
Norddene,
Denen.
DERBENT (passage) = DNEPR RIVER =
Alexander gates = Aper.
Alexandres herga,
Porta ferrea Alexandri,
claustra Alexandri.
DOGI = DON RIVER =
Russians (see below). Danai,
Thanais,
Tanais.
MEDIEVAL RUSSIA = DANUBE RIVER =
Susie, Danubius,
Russie, Hister,
Ruissie, Danuvius,
Rusia, Damaius,
Russia, Deinphirus,
Ruthenia, Danube.
Rutenia,
Ruthia,
Ruthena,
Ruscia,
Russcia,
Russya,
Rosie.
IRON GATES = IRELAND =
see "Derbent". Hybernia.
ICELAND = CAUCASUS =
Ysolandia. beorg Taurus,
Caucasus.
CASPIAN SEA = CASSARIA =
Caspia garsecge, Chasaria (! (see below)
mare Caspium.
KIEV = CHINESE =
Chyo (!), Cathaii.
Cleva (!),
Riona (!),
CORALLS = RED SEA =
Wlaches (see above), mare Rubrum.
Turks (see above),
ENGLISH CHANNEL = MARBURG =
Hibernic ocean = Merseburg.
Hibernicum occeanum.
MESIA = MONGOLIANS =
Moesia = Germany (see above), Moal,
Tatars (see above),
NARVA = GERMANS =
Armilla. Germanici=
Germani,
Teutonici,
Theutonici,
Allemanni.
NETHERLANDS = NORMANS =
Frisia, Arise. Nordmenn.
OCEAN= PECHENEGS (medieval
neighbours of Russians) =
Garsecg, Getae.
Oceano,
Oceanus,
Occeanus,
Ocean.
POLOVTZY (medieval
neighbours of Russians) =
PRUSSIA =
Planeti, Prutenia (!).
Captac, (P-Rutenia = P-Russia).
Cumani, PRUSSES =
Comanii, Prateni,
Alani, Pruteni,
Values, Pructeni,
Valani. Prusceni,
(See Comment 1.) Praceni,
Pruceni.
RIONA = RUGS =
Kiev (see above) Russians, , Sea-cost
Slavs (see below)
RUSSIANS = RUTHENS =
Russii, Russians (see above)
Dogi (!),
Rugi (!),
Rutheni (!),
Rusceni.
THE ARCTIC OCEAN = SITHIA =
Scith ocean = Sciffia garsecg, Scithia (see above)
Occeanus Septentrionalis,
mare Scythicum.
SCANDINAVIANS = SCITHIA =
Gothi. Sithia,
SCYTHS Barbaria,
Scithes, Scithia,
Scythae, Scythia,
Cit (!). Sice (!).
SEA-SIDE SCLAVI = TAVR =
Winedas, Caucasus (see above)
Wandali, TAVRIDA (CRIMEA) =
Roge. Gothia (!!!)
TANAIS = TATARS (MONGOLS) =
Don (see above) Tartareori,
gens Tartarins,
TYRRHENIAN SEA = Tartari,
mare Tyrene. Tartariti,
Tartarii,
Tattari,
Tatari,
Tartarii,
Thartarei.
TURKS = URAL MOUNTAINS =
Coralli, Riffeng beorgum,
Thurki, Hyberborei montes,
Turci, montes Riph(a)eis,
Blachi, Ilac, Blac (!!!). Hyperborei montes.
FRANCE = FRISIA =
Gallia, The Netherlands (see
Francia. above.)
CHASARIA = CHASARS =
Cassaria, Chazari.
Cessaria (!!!).
CHIO = BLACK SEA =
Kiev (see above) Euxinus,
Pontius,
SCOTLAND = mare Ponticum,
Scotia, mare Majus.
Gutlonde.
CHINGIS-CHAN = JAROSLAV THE WISE
Cingis, (Kiev Princeps Magnus) =
Churchitan, Malesclodus,
Zingiton, Malescoldus.
Chircam, Juriscloth (= Jurius-
Cliyrcam Georgius),
Gurgatan, Juliusclodius (= Julius-
Cecarcarus, Clodius).
Ingischam, Julius Claudius.
Tharsis (!),
DAVID (!),
PRESBYTER IOHANNES (!!).
One remark about Jaroslav the Wise. He was known in medieval
England as "Malescoldus". According to M.N.Alexeev [12] there
were also some other names which were applied to Jaroslav the
Wise in Western historical tradition:
Juriscloht (from Jurius-Georgius),
Juliusclodius (!),
(the last form of Jaroslav's name was used by Norman historian of
12th century - Gijom),
Julius Claudius,
(this form used by Orderic Vitali).
Let us present a typical example of old English historical
text:
"He escaped to the kingdom of Dogs, which we prefer to call
RUSSIA. When the king of [this] land - MALESCLODUS - learned
about him, he was given a great honor" ([13],[14]).
Here is a Latin original text:
"Aufugit ad regnum Dogorum, quod nos melius vocamus Russiam.
Quem rex terrae Malescoldus nomine, ut cognovit quis esset,
honeste retinuit" [13].
Imagine please reading this old text without looking at the
modern comments which suggest that Dogs Kingdom means the same as
Russia. The text would look like this:
"He escaped to the Kingdom of Dogs. When the king of that
land learned about him, he was given a great honor."
Most probably such text would be understood as a story
treating some medieval events in England or Scotland. The word
"Dogs" seems to designate a population in some part of England or
Scotland and the name "Malescoldus" very much looks like a name
of medieval English or Scottish king. Such an interpretation
looks rather natural. One knows from Scottish history, for
example, that there were several kings with a name "Malcolm",
close to "Malescoldus": Malcolm I (943-958), Malcolm II
(1004-1034), Malcolm III (1057-1093) etc.
But such interpretation of this text would definitely
transform some of ancient Russian events into English ones, i.e.,
into ones which are thought to happen on the land of modern
England. This example suggests that even a direct understanding,
not to say about an interpretation, of an old historical text
could be rather ambiguous.
Differences between medieval English writer's opinion and
modern way of understanding and interpretation of medieval terms
occur for texts written in 9-15th centuries (not so old texts,
from the point of view of modern tradition). It means that there
exist several possibilities to interpret medieval documents. The
way of such interpretation which is in general use now, proves to
be not unique. It is only one of possible ways, maybe not the
best one. We are going to show here that this standard way is
really not enough supported by original documents. The above
vocabulary of synonyms (medieval terms-duplicates) is very useful
for our analysis of English history.
2.3. An overview of traditional concept of English history
2.3.1. Scotland and England: two parallel "dynastic streams"
Fig. 1 shows a rough scheme of the English history as it is
considered today. The beginning of English history is placed in
the 1st century B.C. (Julius Caesar's conquest of England).
Starting at this moment and going up to 400 A.D., English
chronicles talk in fact about Roman history. Sometimes they only
mention that certain Roman emperor visit England. According to
English chronicles there were no independent kings in England
before 400 A.D.
We will take J.Blair's "Chronological tables" as a source of
information about general structure of English chronology. These
tables were compiled in the end of 18th c., but the new
information which became available after that time, have not
changed the whole picture of English history and so this
information is not very important for us now.
In 5th century A.D. the Roman power in England came to the
end and in that time the first English kings appeared.
It was a moment when English history divided into:
a) history of England and
b) history of Scotland.
In other words, two dynastic streams began in 5th c.:
a) English stream and
b) Scottish stream.
These two dynastic streams develop in parallel up to 1603
when they transformed into a single dynastic stream of the Great
Britain.
In 404 A.D. the long dynasty of Scottish kings began with
the king Fergus I. It ends in 1603 when a united kingdom of Great
Britain appeared with it's first king Jacob I (1603-1625).
Scottish dynasty looks "very good organized": it practically does
not have simultaneous reigns of different kings, it does not have
breaks and epochs of anarchy also. Being represented graphically
on a time axis, this dynasty covers a 1200-year time interval
from 404 to 1603 A.D. in a very nice, extremely "regular" manner:
reigns of Scottish kings cover one by one without intersections
all this time interval. It is a fine example of "carefully
written history". See dotted line in the Fig.1. The absence of
© Copyright A.T.Fomenko, G.V.Nosovskij
---------------------------------------------------------------
(SHORT SCHEME)
ABSTRACT
This article is devoted to the investigation of
traditional version of English chronology and English history. It
should be mentioned that this tradition was established only in
15-17th cc.(and especially by Scaliger and Petavius) as a result
of attempts to construct the global chronology of Europe and Asia
at that time.
The results of our investigation show that modern version of
English history (which is in fact a slightly modernized version
of 15-16th cc.), was artificially prolonged backward and became
much more long as it was in reality. The real history of England,
as it was reflected in written documents, was much more short.
The same is true for other countries.
In correct version, ancient and medieval English events are
to be transferred to the epoch which begins from 9-10th cc.
Moreover, many of these events prove to be the reflections of
certain events from real Byzantine-Roman history of 9-15th cc.
Consequently, the Great Britain Empire is a direct successor of
medieval Byzantine Empire.
This effect for English history corresponds to the similar
"shortening effects" for traditional histories of other countries
(Italy, Greece, Egypt, Russia etc.). Such effects were discovered
earlier by the authors (see our previous publications). A
discussion of the whole problem of global chronology and a
history of this problem one can find in [1],[24]. English history
is not an exemption from the "rule".
We do not think that all speculations which are suggested
here are final ones. Surely, they are subject to further
corrections and clarification. Nevertheless, the general concept
is quite clear and seems to be a final one.
The aim of present work is only to present main points of our
new version of reconstruction of the real English history.
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. BRIEF REVIEW OF TRADITIONAL ENGLISH HISTORY
2.1. The most old English chronicles
2.1.1. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
2.1.2. Nennius' "Historia Brittonum"
2.1.3. Galfridus Monemutensis' "Historia Brittonum".
"Histoires of the kings of Britain by Geoffrey of
Monmouth"
2.1.4. Some other old English chronicles
2.2. What were the medieval names for modern cities, nations and
countries according to ancient English chronicles?
2.3. An overview of traditional concept of English history
2.3.1. Scotland and England: two parallel "dynastic
streams"
2.3.2. English history. Epoch from 1st to 445 A.D. England
as the Roman colony
2.3.3. Epoch from 445 to 830. Six kingdoms and their
union
2.3.4. Epoch from 830 to 1040. The epoch is finished by
Danish conquest and then by disintegration of
Dutch kingdom in England
2.3.5. Epoch from 1040 to 1066. Epoch of the Old Anglo-Saxon
dynasty and it's fall
2.3.6. Epoch from 1066 to 1327. Norman dynasty and after
it - Anjou dynasty. Two Edwards
2.3.7. Epoch from 1327 to 1602.
3. PARALLELS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND BYZANTINE-ROMAN HISTORY. GREAT
BRITAIN EMPIRE AS THE DIRECT SUCCESSOR OF MEDIEVAL BYZANTINE-ROMAN
EMPIRE
3.1. Rough comparison of dynastic streams of England and
Byzantine-Roman empire
3.2. Dynasty parallelism between ancient and medieval England
from one side and medieval Byzantine empire from another side.
General concept of correspondence between English and
Byzantine histories
3.3. Some details of dynastic parallelism ("parallelism
table")
3.3.1. English history of 640-830 A.D. and Byzantine
history 378-553 A.D. 275-year shift
3.3.2. English history of 800-1040 and Byzantine
history of 553-830. Rigid 275-year shift
3.3.3. English history of 1040-1327 and Byzantine
history of 1143-1453. Rigid 120-year shift
4. CORRECT ENGLISH HISTORY IS MORE SHORT IN TIME BUT MUCH MORE
DENSE IN EVENTS THAN IT IS SUGGESTED BY TEXTBOOKS
4.1. Our new concept of English history
4.2. In which way the Byzantine chronicles were inserted
into the medieval English history (of the island
Anglia)?
5. OLD ENGLISH CHRONICLES AS ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS WHICH SPEAK ABOUT
REAL EVENTS OF 10-13th CENTURIES
5.1. Roman consul Brutus - the first who conquered Britain
(and the first king of britts)
5.2. Consul Brutus of English chronicles - was he a contemporary
of Julius Caesar?
5.3. Biblical events in English chronicles
5.4. Do we interpret ancient texts in a proper way? Problem
of vowels restoration
5.5. Geography and chronology of biblical events
5.5.1. Problems with traditional geographical
localizations
5.5.2. Where ancient Troy was located?
5.5.3. Where Moses traveled in reality?
5.6. Why English chronicles suggested that both Russia and
England were located on islands?
5.7. Where was the land Britain which was conquered by
Brutus located? In what direction his fleet cruised?
5.8. With whom Brutus fights while conquering of Britain =
Albania?
5.9. With whom Julius Caesar fights while conquering of Britain =
Albania?
5.10. Where was London located in 10-11th cc.A.D.?
5.11. Who were scots in 10-12th cc.A.D. and were did they live?
Where was Scotland located in 10-12th cc.A.D.?
5.12. Five original languages of ancient Britain. Which
nations used these languages and where did they live
in 10-12th cc.A.D.?
5.13. Where were located six original English kingdoms
Britain, Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex and Mercia in
10-12th cc.A.D.?
5.14. A shift of originally Byzantine map to the land of
modern Great Britain resulted in duplicating of many
geographical terms
5.15. William I the Conqueror and Hastings battle in 1066
A.D. The fourth crusade in 1204 A.D.
5.15.1. Two well-known wars in England and Byzantine
empire have the same origin
5.15.2. English version of William the Conqueror story
5.15.3. Byzantine version of the Constantinople's
conqueror
5.15.4. A list of correspondences between events from
Byzantine and English chronicles
5.16. Medieval Russia from the point of view of English
chronicles. When did apostle Paul write his message to
galats and who they were?
REFERENCES
1. INTRODUCTION
This work belongs to the scope of investigations carried out
by authors in order to give a critical analysis of ancient and
medieval chronology, and also - to try a reconstruction of real
ancient chronology. The whole history of the problem one can find
in A.T.Fomenko's books [1],[24]. In these books some new
statistical methods of obtaining true dates for ancient events
recorded in old chronicles were suggested. As a result, a new
chronology of Europe, Asia, Egypt and Northern Africa based on a
statistical investigation of ancient texts, was suggested in
[1],[24]. One also can find there a list of all publications by
A.T.Fomenko and his colleagues devoted to chronological problems.
This new concept of global history and chronology confirms
some ideas which were expressed by different scientists in
16-20th cc. The most important were ideas of famous Russian
scientist N.A.Morozov (1854-1946) who had an extremely wide range
of scientific interests in many different branches of natural
science and history. Very interesting works devoted to the
problems of traditional chronology were written by Isaac Newton,
J.Gardouin, R.Baldauf, E.Johnson and others.
As a result of application of statistical methods to
historical science, A.T.Fomenko discovered a "fiber structure" of
our modern "textbook in ancient and medieval history". In such a
way we will call a modern chronological tradition in history
which is expressed in all our textbooks. It was proved that this
"textbook" consist of four more short "textbooks" which speak
about the same events, the same historical epochs. These short
"textbooks" were then shifted one with respect to other on the
time axis and then glued together preserving these shifts. The
result is our modern "textbook" which shows the history much
longer than it was in reality. To be more precise, we speak here
only about a "written" history, i.e., such history which left
it's traces in written documents which finally, after their
certain evolution, we possess today. Of course before it, there
was a long "pre-written" history, but information about it is
lost.
Resume is as follows. History which we in principle could
learn about today, starts only in 9-10th cc. "A.D." (i.e.,
1100-1200 years ago). And the very name "A.D." attached to the
era which we use now, is not correct.
New results concerning the problem of reconstruction of real
ancient chronology one can find in two last Fomenko's books
[4,5] devoted to history and chronology.
An important step to the reconstruction of real ancient
chronology was made by publication of a book [3] written by
A.T.Fomenko, V.V.Kalashnikov and G.V.Nosovskij. In this book the
true date of compilation of a famous ancient scientific
manuscript, the Ptolemy's "Almagest", was (approximately)
determined as a result of statistical analysis of numerical
astronomical data in the "Almagest". Traditionally it is assumed
that the "Almagest" was compiled not later than in 2nd c. A.D. In
[3] it is proved that the real date of it's compilation belongs
to the time interval from 7th century to 13th century A.D.
Later, in 1992-1993, A.T.Fomenko and G.V. Nosovskij applied
new statistical methods to Russian history. In Russian history
there also were discovered chronological shifts and duplicates.
It proves to be very much different from well-known version of
Russian history which was suggested in epoch of Romanov dynasty
reign in Russia. The book "Chronology and General Concept of
Russian History" by A.T.Fomenko and G.V. Nosovskij is being
printed (in Russian).
In 1992-1993 authors recognized that the history of
development of English chronology and English history itself is a
very interesting and important point in the whole scope of global
chronology reconstruction. In our analysis of Russian old
documents it was necessary to use also some English documents.
And immediately we came upon several such amazing facts that, it
become quite clear to us that English history (which is rather
"spoiled" in modern "textbook") gives new and important
information to the reconstruction of real chronology of Europe
and Asia.
We tried our best to make this work independent from our
previous works. Nevertheless, such dependence exists. That is why
we recommend to anyone who really wants to understand the whole
problem of reconstruction the English history as it as in
reality, to look through mentioned above books and scientific
publications by authors. We believe that this work is good for
the beginning and it could serve as a starting point to the
reader. We tried to avoid citation from other our works here (as
far as it was possible).
It is pleasure for us to thank Mrs. Laura Alexander (USA) for
her excellent assistance in arranging materials concerning
English history. Her energy very much inspired our work on
English history.
We thank T.N.Fomenko for several good ideas which improved
some of our results concerning parallels between English and
Byzantine history and also for valuable remarks which made this
text better.
2. BRIEF REVIEW OF TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF ENGLISH HISTORY
2.1. The most old English chronicles
2.1.1. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
To understand a material we are going to present here, it
would be better if a reader knows main things from English, Roman
and Byzantine history. As to Roman and Byzantine history, we
assume that it is more or less the case. But old English history
is not so generally well-known. That is why we are going to
present here a brief review of "English history textbook".
Surely, we could simply suggest that a reader looks through
one of modern books concerned with English history before he
reads this paper. But all such books are necessarily the
secondary texts which, in fact, copy an information from more old
texts and documents devoted to English history. The problem is
that this coping proves to be not so good (part of information is
lost). That is why we prefer to analyse medieval historical texts
themselves rather then modern textbooks, which are based on them.
An important advantage of these medieval texts is that they were
written more close to the time of creation of now traditional
global chronological version (it was I.Scaliger's one). Our
experience says that an information about old history was been
lost while publishing new and new textbooks from that time up to
now. Medieval texts are more valuable for reconstruction of real
history.
Our analysis was based mostly on three famous medieval
English chronicles: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle [2], Nennius' "Historia
Brittonum" [8] and Galfridus Monemutensis' "Historia Brittonum"
[9]. In fact, these texts form a basis for modern concept of old
and medieval English history.
Also we used well-known "Chronological Tables" which were
compiled by J.Blair [6] in 18th c. - beginning of 19th c. These
fundamental tables cover all historical epochs which seemed
important to experts in the end of 19th century.
Now it is assumed that so-called "legendary" English history
started from the time of Trojan war, i.e., in 12-13th cc. B.C.
Nevertheless a 1000-year period from Trojan war to the epoch of
Julius Caesar (1st c. B.C.) is considered usually as a "dark
time".
From the time of creation and establishment of modern
chronological concept (by I.Scaliger and D.Petavius in 16-17th
cc.) it was assumed that "written" English history starts from 60
B.C. when Julius Caesar conquered the British islands. But it is
known today that documents speak about English history only from
approximately 1 A.D., i.e. from the rein of Octavian Augustus. It
was the 1 A.D. when Anglo-Saxon Chronicle began its records ([2],
p.4).
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle consists of several separate
manuscripts:
Manuscript A: The Parker Chronicle
(60 B.C. - A.D. 1070),
Manuscript B: The Abigdon Chronicle I
(A.D. 1 - A.D. 977),
Manuscript C: The Abigdon Chronicle II
(60 B.C. - A.D. 1066),
Manuscript D: The Worcester Chronicle
(A.D. 1 - A.D. 1079),
(with twelfth-century addition 1080 - 1130 A.D.),
Manuscript E: The Laud (Petersburg) Chronicle
(A.D. 1 - A.D. 1153),
Manuscript F: The Bilingual Canterbury Epitome
(A.D. 1 - A.D. 1058).
It is well-known that all these manuscripts duplicate each
other in the sense that they all speak about the same events, but
in more or less details. That is why all they are placed in the
publication [2] parallel to each other in a very convenient
manner, which makes it easy to compare different records
concerning the same year. Maybe, all these manuscripts have the
same written original and in fact represent different scripts of
one old chronicle.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle covers an epoch from 1 A.D. to 11th
century (except manuscript E which stops in 1153).
It is traditionally assumed that all these manuscripts were
written approximately in 11-12th cc., just in the form which we
have today. But it is only a hypothesis which is strongly based
on the Scaliger's chronology. And it sounds not very natural. For
example, manuscript A exists now only in two "copies" and both of
them were made only in 16th c. (see [2], p.xxxiii). The original
version (from which these two copies were made) was practically
burned out in a fire. As to other manuscripts of Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle, their history is not clear from [2]. For example, it
is not pointed out what were the methods of determining of dates
when existing copies were made. One could have an idea that the
dating was as follows: if last records of these manuscripts refer
to 11-12th cc., then the copies we now posses are necessarily
written just in that form in 11-12th cc. Leaving aside other
objections, we must say that this speculation in fully based on
Scaliger's chronology. If real dates of last mentioned events
change, then such dating of a manuscript would also change.
Difficulties with reconstruction of a true story for origin
of these manuscripts are well-known among experts. For
example David Knowles had to claim that:
"The question of provenance and interdependence of the
various versions [of the Chronicle] are so complicated that any
discussion soon assumes the appearance of an essay in higher
mathematics" ([2],p.xxxi).
Moreover, G.N.Garmonsway says that any modern analysis of
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is based on the Charles Plummer's revision
(1892-1899) of it's original edition published by John Earle in
1865. It should be mentioned that manuscripts A and E are again
"associated" (G.N.Garmonsway's expression) with certain persons
from 16th century - Archbishop Parker (1504-1575) and Archbishop
Laud (1573-1645). Here is his text:
"Any account of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is necessary based
on Charles Plummer's revision of the edition of John Earle (1865)
which was published in two volumes by the Oxford University Press
in 1892-9... Plummer's edition... gives prominence on opposite
pages to manuscripts A and E, associated respectively with the
names of Archbishop Parker (1504-75) and Archbishop Laud
(1573-1645);...The other manuscripts were once in the possession
of Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631), and are to be found in the
Cottonian collection of manuscripts in the British
Museum"([2],p.xxxi).
It seems that all the manuscripts of Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
which are available today were actually written (or revised) not
earlier than in 15-16th centuries. However, they are considered
to be written in this form in 11-12th cc. Probably the only
reason for such point of view is that traditional dates of the
last events from Anglo-Saxon Chronicle belong to this epoch:
11-12th cc. But such reason is not enough. It is possible that
events from 11-12th cc. were described by somebody in 15-16th cc.
and we actually possess his secondary text which could be very
far from an original version. And also, the dates of events from
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle strongly depend on a used chronological
concept. If it changes then the dating of Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
would change automatically.
There is a strong argument which suggests that manuscripts
of Anglo-Saxon Chronicle are actually of a rather late origin.
The problem is that all these manuscripts use modern "A.D." era
which came into regular practical use only in 15th century. It is
a known fact in traditional history. Later we will also present
some facts which suggest that the authors of Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle were already familiar with J.Scaliger's chronological
concept (16th c.), and by no means - with a chronological concept
of Matthew Vlastar (16th c.). It means that Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
was written much later then it is usually accepted.
The reason for Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to be paid such great
attention in our reconstruction of English history is very
simple. It turns out that
"Thanks to the example of Bede, the Chronicle is the first
history written in English to use his mastery innovation of
reckoning years as from the Incarnation of Our Lord - "Years of
Grace" as they were called in England."([2],p.xxiv).
Concerning the way of presenting dates in Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle we should make a remark. It is accepted that in
medieval England they used for "A.D." era the following formula:
"Years from the Incarnation of Our Lord". It is accepted today
that this formula was equivalent to the formula "Years of Grace".
But this equivalence in not so evident and requires a special
investigation. (We will return to this subject later and discuss
it in more details). Note that there is a strange similarity
between two well-known names-terms
Grace - Greece.
Maybe the original (and forgotten today) meaning of a
formula "Years of Grace" differs from one which is accepted
today. Maybe it was "years in Greece", "Greek years" or something
like this. It is possible also that there is a relation between
terms Grace, Greece and Christ. Was the name of Christ associated
in some sense with a name of country "Greece"? For example Christ
religion = "Greece religion"? It might be because in medieval
epoch Greece was a name of Byzantine empire, and another it's
name was Romea, Rome. So Christian, "Roman" religion could be
called also as "Greek religion"; but if so then there might be a
confusion between "A.D.", "Christ" era and old "Greek", Byzantine
era which was used sometimes, as well as "A.D.", with it's
thousands omitted. It could be not obvious which era was actually
used in an old documents which indicate "Years of Grace". Of
course, such kind of similarity between different terms could not
be considered as very strong arguments supporting any point of
view. It play a role of preliminary speculations and should be
considered as a serious argument only in the case when it appears
(repeats) constantly in a long historical parallelism, when
similar names arise simultaneously for hundreds of years in two
different epochs after one of them is shifted in time as a whole
and then compared with another one.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was written in a very laconic manner,
it was divided into chapters (fragments) each of them devoted to
a certain year. Many years are not described at all (there are
some lacunas in the text). It is considered today that
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle speaks about events from the beginning of
A.D. to 11-12th centuries. See Fig.1. The text of Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle seem to be really very old. Absence of long and
"beautifully designed" periods in the text (typical for
historical literature of 15-16th cc.) suggests that Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle is an important historical document which was based on
some really ancient records. Surely, it was edited in 16-17th cc.
and a main question is: what credit should we give to
chronologists of 15-17 centuries who actually dated events in
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as we have it now?
2.1.2. Nennius' "Historia Brittonum".
Nennius' "Historia Brittonum" is a rather short text, only
about 24 pages in [8].
There exist more then 30 manuscripts of Nennius' book which
are known today (see [8]).
"The earliest manuscripts are dated today by 9th or 10th
centuries, and the latest - by 13th or even 14th centuries. In
some of the manuscripts are indications that the author was
Gildas. Nennius is called as the author sufficiently rare. Thus,
this manuscript is possibly - compilation... The original text
was lost, we do not have it today. But there exists its Irish
translation of 11th century" ([8],p.269).
Translation was made from the publication: "Nennius et
l'Historia brittonum", P.,1934.
Some manuscripts are ended with pages from "Annals Cambriae",
which is considered to be compiled approximately in 954 A.D.
Nennius' "Historia Brittonum" does not have nor chronological
subdivision neither any chronological notes except the following
two ones:
1) A table titled "About six ages of the world" is placed at
the beginning of the "Historia". It presents time distances in
years between some biblical events - and already according to
Scaliger's calculations, which were carried out only in 16th c.
2) Chapter XVI of the "Historia" has a section titled "The
ground of the dating" , which speaks about the relative distances
(in years) between a few events from English history.
In both cases chronological notes are very brief.
Resume is that it is unclear, who and when actually wrote the
"Historia". It's original text does not exist today, a
translation which is considered to be carried out in 11th c. The
text does not have it's own chronological scale. Surely, all
questions which arise with Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, refer to
"Historia" also. Moreover, Nennius' text is written in a free
artistic manner with many stylistic accessories. It suggests that
this manuscript is of rather late origin. Such text could be
written only in an atmosphere of a deep and well developed
literary tradition when many people use writing and reading books
and paper is not a treasure.
It is accepted today that Nennius describes certain events in
a time interval from the epoch of Trojan war to 10-11th cc. A.D.
In fact it is a result of only a traditional chronological
concept (which suggests that short Nennius' text covers an
extremely large 2000-year historical period) that one could find
today giant lacunas in chronology of "Historia". Fig. 1 shows by
a dotted line the epoch which is considered to be covered by
"Historia". According to traditional chronological concept
Nennius easily omits whole centuries in his story, makes giant
chronological jumps without any explanations. He seems not to
notice it at all and continues his story after such jumps as if
nothing was missed.
2.1.3. Galfridus Monemutensis' "Historia Brittonum".
"Histories of the kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth".
It is generally accepted today that this chronicle was
written in 30th or 40th of 12th century ([8], p.196) by
Galfridus Monemutensis who based it on Nennius' text, sometimes
even copying Nennius "errors" ([8], p.231, comments to chap. 17;
see also [8], p.244). Galfridus Monemutensis' book is rather big
one - about 130 pages in [8]. In opposition to Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle his text has no chronological subdivision (no indication
about years). His writing style was rather complicated, with many
accessories, moralities, philosophical excursions et cetera.
Galfridus is even considered to be not a historian only but also
a poet. Surely, the traditional point of view that Galfridus
wrote his book after Nennius, is correct. It is known also that
Galfridus made an extensive use of "Ecclesiastic History of the
English Nation" (in Latin) by Bede Venerable ([9], p.244). It is
assumed that Bede's "History" covers 597-731 A.D.
It is remarkable that modern commentators point out "the
extremely clear and evident Galfridus' orientation of the antique
tradition" ([9], p.207). For example, Galfridus not only used
ancient plots, but also copied a stylistic manner of ancient
authors ([9], p.207). It seems that Galfridus writes his book
being fully influenced by the atmosphere of antiquity. It was
pointed out that Galfridus copies some of his topics directly
from ancient authors (for example, from Stacius), but does not
give any references ([9], p.236).
Galfridus Monemutensis' "Historia Brittonum" was extremely
popular in medieval times. "Today we have about two hundreds (! -
Auth.) copies of his "History",... which were written in
different places starting from 12th century and until 15th
century, i.e., up to appearance of the first printed edition"
([9],p.228). At first time "Historia" was printed in Paris in
1508.
Fig. 1 shows a historical epoch which is assumed to be
covered by Galfridus' text (according to traditional chronology).
Notice that it is approximately the same time interval as for
Nennius' case: namely, from Trojan war up to 8th century A.D. Of
course, Galfridus' book is much bigger then Nennius' one, but
being referred again to the giant 2000-year time interval, it
could not cover it all without huge lacunas. And really,
traditional chronology states that Galfridus "omit" large
historical epochs. But it is strange, that Galfridus himself does
not mind it at all. He calmly continues his story without
notifying a reader that he sometimes actually misses whole
historical epochs in his chronology.
2.1.4. Some other old English chronicles
In our work we use also some other English chronicles of
9-13th centuries, particularly those represented in a book by
V.I.Matuzova "English medieval documents" [10]. Here we would
like to present a very interesting list which was compiled by
V.I.Matuzova as a result of her investigation of these chronicles
rather then to characterize them in details. We will discuss this
subject in the next section.
2.2. What were the medieval names for modern cities, nations
and countries according to ancient English chronicles?
Many people use to think that medieval chronicles refer to
such well-known areas (regions) as England, London, Russia, Kiev
etc. with just the same names as today, and so in general there
is no problem to recognize what place old documents are speaking
about. Sometimes, in more new documents, it is actually the case.
But in more old, original documents such situation seems to be
rather an exception then a rule. Old chronicles very often use
absolutely different geographical names and it is a nontrivial
task to understand what regions (areas, towns et cetera) they are
really speaking about.
It is also a problem that old documents in general use many
different names for each country, land, nation etc. Very often
these names have nothing to do with those we use today. The names
of ancient nations, countries and cities which are known today,
were fixed only in 18-20th centuries. But before that time there
were various opinions concerning what names to use. These
opinions were often quite different from each other. It is a very
interesting question to analyse the names which were used in
medieval English documents for cities, nations and countries
which are so well-known today with their modern names. It turns
out after such analysis, that medieval authors seem to have quite
different views on old and ancient history. That is why modern
specialists in history usually claim that almost all medieval
people were "extremely wrong" in history, that they had
"fantastic concepts" about it, "confused and mixed historical
epochs", "did not distinguish antiquity and medieval epoch" and
so on.
In a following list some medieval "synonyms" of modern
accepted names and terms are presented. Each entry of the list
shows a modern term and is followed by it's medieval synonyms.
AZOV SEA = ALANIA =
Meotedisc lakes, Valana,
Meotedisc fen, Alania,
Maeotidi lacus, Valana,
Maeotidi paludes, Valvy,
palus Maeotis, Polovtzy ?! - see below.
paludes Maeotis,
paludes Maeotidae,
Paluz Meotidienes.
ALBANIANS = AMAZONS LAND =
Liubene, Maegda land,
Albani. Maegda londe,
Amazonia.
BULGARIANS = BUG RIVER =
Wlgari, Armilla.
Bulgari,
Bougreis.
VANDALS = HUNGARY =
Wandali, Hungaria,
Sea-cost Slavs. Hunia,
Ungaria,
Minor Ungaria.
BYZANTINE EMPIRE = VALACHIANS =
Graecia, Coralli,
Constantinopolis, Blachi,
Ilac,
Blac,
Turks ! (see below).
VALACHIA = VOLGA RIVER =
Balchia. Ethilia.
GALITZK-VOLYNSK RUSSIA = GERMANY =
Galacia, Gothia,
Gallacia. Mesia,
Theutonia,
Germania,
Allemania,
Jermaine.
HIBERNIC OCEAN = HIBERNIA =
The English Channel Ireland (!)
Hibernicum occeanum.
GOTHIA = GUNNS =
Germany, Hunni,
Island Gotland, Huni,
Scandinavia, Hun.
Tavrida (=old name of Crimea).
DACKS = DENMARK =
Dani, Denemearc,
Daneis. Dacia,
Dania,
Desemone.
DUTCH = DARDANELLES (the strait) =
Daci, St. Georg strait =
Dani, branchium Sancti Georgii.
Norddene,
Denen.
DERBENT (passage) = DNEPR RIVER =
Alexander gates = Aper.
Alexandres herga,
Porta ferrea Alexandri,
claustra Alexandri.
DOGI = DON RIVER =
Russians (see below). Danai,
Thanais,
Tanais.
MEDIEVAL RUSSIA = DANUBE RIVER =
Susie, Danubius,
Russie, Hister,
Ruissie, Danuvius,
Rusia, Damaius,
Russia, Deinphirus,
Ruthenia, Danube.
Rutenia,
Ruthia,
Ruthena,
Ruscia,
Russcia,
Russya,
Rosie.
IRON GATES = IRELAND =
see "Derbent". Hybernia.
ICELAND = CAUCASUS =
Ysolandia. beorg Taurus,
Caucasus.
CASPIAN SEA = CASSARIA =
Caspia garsecge, Chasaria (! (see below)
mare Caspium.
KIEV = CHINESE =
Chyo (!), Cathaii.
Cleva (!),
Riona (!),
CORALLS = RED SEA =
Wlaches (see above), mare Rubrum.
Turks (see above),
ENGLISH CHANNEL = MARBURG =
Hibernic ocean = Merseburg.
Hibernicum occeanum.
MESIA = MONGOLIANS =
Moesia = Germany (see above), Moal,
Tatars (see above),
NARVA = GERMANS =
Armilla. Germanici=
Germani,
Teutonici,
Theutonici,
Allemanni.
NETHERLANDS = NORMANS =
Frisia, Arise. Nordmenn.
OCEAN= PECHENEGS (medieval
neighbours of Russians) =
Garsecg, Getae.
Oceano,
Oceanus,
Occeanus,
Ocean.
POLOVTZY (medieval
neighbours of Russians) =
PRUSSIA =
Planeti, Prutenia (!).
Captac, (P-Rutenia = P-Russia).
Cumani, PRUSSES =
Comanii, Prateni,
Alani, Pruteni,
Values, Pructeni,
Valani. Prusceni,
(See Comment 1.) Praceni,
Pruceni.
RIONA = RUGS =
Kiev (see above) Russians, , Sea-cost
Slavs (see below)
RUSSIANS = RUTHENS =
Russii, Russians (see above)
Dogi (!),
Rugi (!),
Rutheni (!),
Rusceni.
THE ARCTIC OCEAN = SITHIA =
Scith ocean = Sciffia garsecg, Scithia (see above)
Occeanus Septentrionalis,
mare Scythicum.
SCANDINAVIANS = SCITHIA =
Gothi. Sithia,
SCYTHS Barbaria,
Scithes, Scithia,
Scythae, Scythia,
Cit (!). Sice (!).
SEA-SIDE SCLAVI = TAVR =
Winedas, Caucasus (see above)
Wandali, TAVRIDA (CRIMEA) =
Roge. Gothia (!!!)
TANAIS = TATARS (MONGOLS) =
Don (see above) Tartareori,
gens Tartarins,
TYRRHENIAN SEA = Tartari,
mare Tyrene. Tartariti,
Tartarii,
Tattari,
Tatari,
Tartarii,
Thartarei.
TURKS = URAL MOUNTAINS =
Coralli, Riffeng beorgum,
Thurki, Hyberborei montes,
Turci, montes Riph(a)eis,
Blachi, Ilac, Blac (!!!). Hyperborei montes.
FRANCE = FRISIA =
Gallia, The Netherlands (see
Francia. above.)
CHASARIA = CHASARS =
Cassaria, Chazari.
Cessaria (!!!).
CHIO = BLACK SEA =
Kiev (see above) Euxinus,
Pontius,
SCOTLAND = mare Ponticum,
Scotia, mare Majus.
Gutlonde.
CHINGIS-CHAN = JAROSLAV THE WISE
Cingis, (Kiev Princeps Magnus) =
Churchitan, Malesclodus,
Zingiton, Malescoldus.
Chircam, Juriscloth (= Jurius-
Cliyrcam Georgius),
Gurgatan, Juliusclodius (= Julius-
Cecarcarus, Clodius).
Ingischam, Julius Claudius.
Tharsis (!),
DAVID (!),
PRESBYTER IOHANNES (!!).
One remark about Jaroslav the Wise. He was known in medieval
England as "Malescoldus". According to M.N.Alexeev [12] there
were also some other names which were applied to Jaroslav the
Wise in Western historical tradition:
Juriscloht (from Jurius-Georgius),
Juliusclodius (!),
(the last form of Jaroslav's name was used by Norman historian of
12th century - Gijom),
Julius Claudius,
(this form used by Orderic Vitali).
Let us present a typical example of old English historical
text:
"He escaped to the kingdom of Dogs, which we prefer to call
RUSSIA. When the king of [this] land - MALESCLODUS - learned
about him, he was given a great honor" ([13],[14]).
Here is a Latin original text:
"Aufugit ad regnum Dogorum, quod nos melius vocamus Russiam.
Quem rex terrae Malescoldus nomine, ut cognovit quis esset,
honeste retinuit" [13].
Imagine please reading this old text without looking at the
modern comments which suggest that Dogs Kingdom means the same as
Russia. The text would look like this:
"He escaped to the Kingdom of Dogs. When the king of that
land learned about him, he was given a great honor."
Most probably such text would be understood as a story
treating some medieval events in England or Scotland. The word
"Dogs" seems to designate a population in some part of England or
Scotland and the name "Malescoldus" very much looks like a name
of medieval English or Scottish king. Such an interpretation
looks rather natural. One knows from Scottish history, for
example, that there were several kings with a name "Malcolm",
close to "Malescoldus": Malcolm I (943-958), Malcolm II
(1004-1034), Malcolm III (1057-1093) etc.
But such interpretation of this text would definitely
transform some of ancient Russian events into English ones, i.e.,
into ones which are thought to happen on the land of modern
England. This example suggests that even a direct understanding,
not to say about an interpretation, of an old historical text
could be rather ambiguous.
Differences between medieval English writer's opinion and
modern way of understanding and interpretation of medieval terms
occur for texts written in 9-15th centuries (not so old texts,
from the point of view of modern tradition). It means that there
exist several possibilities to interpret medieval documents. The
way of such interpretation which is in general use now, proves to
be not unique. It is only one of possible ways, maybe not the
best one. We are going to show here that this standard way is
really not enough supported by original documents. The above
vocabulary of synonyms (medieval terms-duplicates) is very useful
for our analysis of English history.
2.3. An overview of traditional concept of English history
2.3.1. Scotland and England: two parallel "dynastic streams"
Fig. 1 shows a rough scheme of the English history as it is
considered today. The beginning of English history is placed in
the 1st century B.C. (Julius Caesar's conquest of England).
Starting at this moment and going up to 400 A.D., English
chronicles talk in fact about Roman history. Sometimes they only
mention that certain Roman emperor visit England. According to
English chronicles there were no independent kings in England
before 400 A.D.
We will take J.Blair's "Chronological tables" as a source of
information about general structure of English chronology. These
tables were compiled in the end of 18th c., but the new
information which became available after that time, have not
changed the whole picture of English history and so this
information is not very important for us now.
In 5th century A.D. the Roman power in England came to the
end and in that time the first English kings appeared.
It was a moment when English history divided into:
a) history of England and
b) history of Scotland.
In other words, two dynastic streams began in 5th c.:
a) English stream and
b) Scottish stream.
These two dynastic streams develop in parallel up to 1603
when they transformed into a single dynastic stream of the Great
Britain.
In 404 A.D. the long dynasty of Scottish kings began with
the king Fergus I. It ends in 1603 when a united kingdom of Great
Britain appeared with it's first king Jacob I (1603-1625).
Scottish dynasty looks "very good organized": it practically does
not have simultaneous reigns of different kings, it does not have
breaks and epochs of anarchy also. Being represented graphically
on a time axis, this dynasty covers a 1200-year time interval
from 404 to 1603 A.D. in a very nice, extremely "regular" manner:
reigns of Scottish kings cover one by one without intersections
all this time interval. It is a fine example of "carefully
written history". See dotted line in the Fig.1. The absence of