FREDEGARIO (PSEUDO)

FREDEGARIUS (PSEUDO). — Under this name, which does not date back earlier than the 16th century (it is said to be either the Latinized form of the surname of the humanist Freher or a fabrication by the historian Goldast), it has been customary to designate a Chronicle of the Franks covering the period from 584 to 652, followed by several chapters on general history that extend to about 660 (ed. Br. Krusch, in MGH, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum, II, pp. 18-193). Three anonymous authors contributed to it, two of Burgundian origin (the first, who was well-informed about the events he recounts, stops at 613 or 616, the second at 642) and one of Austrasian origin. They share only an exceedingly barbarous language. Despite the passion that pervades it, this Chronicle is a primary source for Merovingian history. In the manuscripts that contain it, it forms part of a collection that includes the chronicles of St. Jerome, Hydatius, the Liber generationis, the chronicle of Isidore of Seville, the Historia epitomata, and finally, in the 6th position (Cheltenham ms. of Berlin: In Nomine Domini Ihesu Christi, incipit Christianes exita) or in the 4th position (Paris ms.: Incipit sunt capelatoris cronica libri quarti), the chronicle of Fredegarius himself. The Chronicle of the pseudo-Fredegarius was later continued until 768 by various authors and extended by the Royal Annals up to 829.