The Mohun Chronicle: An Introduction, Edition, and Translation

Abstract

This article provides the first full published edition and translation of the surviving portions of the Mohun Chronicle, a universal history in Anglo-Norman prose. A full introduction to the text examines the evidence for the date, authorship, and patronage of the chronicle, concluding that it was written in the mid-fourteenth century for the Mohuns, lords of Dunster in Somerset, probably by the Cistercian Abbot Walter de la Hove from Newenham Abbey in Devon. The introduction surveys the sources of the chronicle, which include Wace’s Roman de Rou, the Johannes translation of the Pseudo-Turpin, Martinus Polonus’s (Martin of Troppau’s) Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum, and a version of the story of Albine (also known as Albina). A full description of the unique medieval manuscript, London, British Library, MS Additional 62929, which preserves the beginning of the work, is provided alongside a survey of the postmedieval transcripts of fragments from the Mohun Chronicle which recount episodes from the Mohun family’s history. The edition provides the entire text of the unique medieval manuscript, and gathers together the extracts that survive in early modern transcripts. A modern English translation of the Mohun Chronicle is also provided, along with textual and explanatory notes.