Henry I's dream in John of Worcester's Chronicle (Oxford, Corpus Christi College, MS 157) and the illustration of twelfth-century English chronicles

Abstract

Keywords:Chronicle illumination John of Worcester Henry of Huntingdon Dreams of Henry I of England Sun spots Crucifixion Diagrams a b s t r a c t Henry I's four-part dream sequence in John of Worcester's Chronicle is well known to both historians and art historians as a rare but striking historical illustration. This article examines the location of the images within the manuscript itself as well as in the broader context of twelfth-century chronicle illustration. Despite the flourishing of history writing in England, the illumination of such works was rare. In the use of diagrams and narrative scenes, the images found in the Oxford manuscript are amongst the more innovative. Like the near contemporary illuminations in Henry of Huntingdon's Historia Anglorum, the choice of subject and the approach taken, reflect the content of the text itself. It is by locating such manuscripts within the tradition of history-writing and historical illustration that both the inventive and more typical elements become clear.

John of Worcester and the science of history

“…Like Michael Kauffmann somewhat earlier, Collard concluded that chronicle illustration was a rarity before the thirteenth century. 48 Only the chronicle of St Martin des Champs (now B.L. Ms Add.…”