The Annales Rodenses, that anonymous monastic chronicle from the twelfth century

The 12th-century chronicle, which recounts the founding of Kloosterrade Abbey in 1104 by Ailbertus, a priest from Flanders, and the abbey’s first decades up to 1157, is an anonymous work in two respects. Not only have the names of the medieval authors remained unknown, but the surviving manuscript—which originally consisted of 22 parchment leaves divided into four separate quires—is also nameless and bears no title.

The name Annales Rodenses (Chronicle of Kloosterrade), which the manuscript bears today, dates from a later period. By the 17th century, the manuscript was in poor condition, and likely to prevent further deterioration, Canon Nicolaas Heyendal produced a copy of it shortly before 1690, which he titled Annales Rodenses. Around 1750, parchment leaves 3 and 6 proved to be so badly damaged that the text was no longer legible, or barely so. To replace them, the text was transcribed from Heyendal’s copy onto sheets of paper, which were pasted into the old manuscript. The watermark on these sheets of paper dates from the year 1728.

Shortly after Heyendal had completed his copy, he proceeded to record the history of Kloosterrade Abbey from the point at which the chronicler had made his last entry in 1157. This followed his copy of the *Annales Rodenses*, which now bears thetitle *Historia fundationis monasterii Rodensis *. His history, however, is more than just an account of the founding of Kloosterrade Abbey; it tells the story of the abbey up to the events of the year 1700, when he himself was there as choirmaster. The title Annales Rodenses was first used in print in 1852 by the Liège philologist Edouard Lavalleye, who published Simon Pieter Ernst’s Histoire du Limbourg that year. The final volume of this seven-volume history of the Duchy of Limburg contained the Annales Rodenses in their entirety. He added Heyendal’s continuation from the year 1700. At the beginning of this continuation of the history of Kloosterrade, Lavalleye referred to Heyendal as the “Auctor Continuationis Annalium” (Author of the Continuation of the Annales Rodenses). Since the publication of the text in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica in 1859 by G. H. Pertz and W. Wattenbach, the term Annales Rodenses has been used exclusively for the twelfth-century codex.

The manuscript reveals the handwriting of three different chroniclers. The vast majority of the text, covering the period from 1104 to 1152, must have been written before 1160. Based on the narrative style and the comments on the events mentioned, it can be concluded that the chronicler who described these years was certainly part of the monastic community and must have belonged to the second or third generation of monks. The reports on the years 1153 and 1154 were likely written around 1160 or shortly thereafter. The summary financial records for the years 1154 to 1157 were written around 1180. It is interesting to note that each of the chroniclers depicts the beginning of a year in his own way. For the period from the beginning up to the year 1152, the chronicler uses the phrase "Anno Domini Incarnationis," "in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord." The years 1153 through 1156 begin only with the entry "Anno," followed by the year in Roman numerals. The final year, 1157, begins with the words “Anno Domini.” Other time references in the chronicle include the phrases “His diebus,” “In those days,” or “Eodem anno,” “In that year.” However, no particular pattern in the use of these phrases is discernible.

The first chronicler refers to his work as a *narratio*, a narrative that, in terms of content and structure, can be described as a *historia fundationis*. Chronicles of this genre are widely known. They recount the founding of a city, a monastery, or an abbey—often in an edifying manner—and then describe, in chronological order, subsequent events and notable occurrences. Such chronicles generally follow a fixed pattern and usually begin with a vita, a description of the life of the patron saint or founder venerated as a saint. Such an introduction contributes to the hagiographic content of these narratives. They also served to record acquired rights and property or to honor the memory of benefactors. The Annales Rodenses exhibit a similar structure. Although no overt veneration of the founder Ailbertus is known and he was never beatified, the chronicle begins with a detailed description of the life of the priest Ailbertus. In a few beautiful sentences, the author seems to want to emphasize that Ailbertus was chosen by God. Already “beloved above all” as a child, he vowed early on to dedicate his life to God. Guided by supernatural visions in his dreams, he subjected his body to constant fasting and generously distributed alms to the needy. The chronicler characterizes him as a man “in universis actibus fidelis et honestus,” faithful and honest in all his deeds. By placing the founder at the beginning of the chronicle, the chronicler, as it were, transfers the aura of his alleged holiness to the abbey.

When Ailbertus left the monastery in 1111, the chronicle also changed; what remains of it is now largely limited to annual records of the growing landholdings. The descriptions devote considerable attention to the abbey’s benefactors. By the year 1153, the monastery had received about a hundred donations. With few exceptions, all of these donations consisted of land and associated rights. A notable exception is the donation of a piece of the Holy Cross, listed under the year 1129, made by Canon Heriman, the son of Embrico of Mayschoss, who had received it from the Pope during a visit to Rome. In 1128, Heriman had applied to succeed Prior Borno, who had resigned from office at the urging of Pope Honorius II. However, when the monks elected someone else as their prior, Heriman left Kloosterrade “full of shame.” After wandering, he arrived in Denmark, where he entered the service of a bishop, who sent him to Rome. There he received the precious relic from the Pope, which he donated to Kloosterrade “in his memory.”

When recording donations, the chronicler always follows the same pattern. He first names the donor and then describes the property, specifying exactly where it is located and what rights and obligations are associated with it. In many cases, he also names the person through whom the transfer is arranged. Such a transfer was not made to the abbot, but was always a traditio altari, a transfer before the altar. The abbey was thus free to dispose of it as it saw fit, and none of the monks was personally bound to the transferred property. Finally, in cases where the donor’s death is known, the date of death is mentioned. For newly admitted monks, this date is given as the day and month of their admission. The mention of the date of death is an important criterion for dating the manuscript. Between 1141 and 1153, the monastic community numbered 15 brothers and sisters. For three of them, a date of death prior to 1152 is given. When the chronicle changes hands in that year, most of them are still alive. They would have been contemporaries of the chronicler.

Parents often marked their son’s or daughter’s entry into the abbey with a donation to the monastery. Others donated property or rights to secure the canons’ prayers for their own salvation or that of their relatives. Donations were also made to secure a burial plot in the abbey church. This appears to have been a privilege reserved for nobles, as in the case of Duchess Jutta, the widow of Duke Walram I of Limburg. The annalists mention her donation in the year 1151. In that year, she took the religious habit and, on that occasion, donated the property rights to the church of Lommersum to the monastery. When she died shortly thereafter, she was buried “in the center of the church before the crucifix altar,” right next to Mathilde, the wife of her son Hendrik.

The abbey’s holdings grew not only through donations. The Annales Rodenses also record the acquisition of property. This is mentioned as early as 1109, during the tenure of Ailbertus. Most of the acquisitions took place from 1141 onward, the year in which Abbot Erpo began his tenure. During his tenure, which lasted at least until 1178, the abbey flourished in many respects.

Amid the records of acquisitions and transfers, the chronicler mentions on several occasions the deaths of popes, dukes, and emperors. At times, he also notes unusual events such as an earthquake in 1117 or the total solar eclipse on August 2, August 1133, which is not explained as an astronomical phenomenon but is attributed to the direct intervention of “God, the Lord, and His people,” who, with a sudden onset of darkness, prevented the Christian army in Jerusalem from being completely slaughtered by the Turks. In 1146, these regions were struck by an unprecedented famine that drove up grain prices. In the same year, the author reports on Pope Eugene III’s call to participate in the Second Crusade. Two years later, he reports on the return of the Crusaders, “without spiritual salvation and without victory.”

The Annales Rodenses are an extremely important source for local and regional historiography. As Nicolaas Heyendal’s Continuatio demonstrates on several occasions, the sources from which Heyendal could draw for his account of the abbey after 1157—the last year described in the codex—are sparse, and further knowledge of medieval Kloosterrade is limited to data gleaned from the few surviving documents.

When the abbey was dissolved during the French occupation, Simon Pieter Ernst was the custodian of the monastery archives. He managed to save numerous archival documents, including the manuscript of the *Annales Rodenses*, from the hands of French soldiers by keeping them safely in the rectory in Afden. After the death of Canon Ernst in 1817, the Aachen archivist Christiaan Quix took the manuscript into his care for some time. After his death, the records, including the Annales Rodenses, were offered for sale to the public. The offer of 20 talers made by Rolduc Director Henri Peters was rejected, and for the significantly higher sum of 430 talers, the Royal Library in Berlin acquired all the records. In 1949, the manuscript was returned, and since then the Annales Rodenses have been kept at the Limburg Historical Center.