The Annales Rodenses, an anonymous 12th-century monastic chronicle

The 12th-century chronicle recounting the founding of Kloosterrade Abbey in 1104 by Ailbertus, a Flemish priest, 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—originally composed of 22 parchment leaves divided into four separate quires—also has no name and no title.

The title *Annales Rodenses* (Chronicle of Kloosterrade) that 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 made a copy of it in 1690 or shortly before, which he titled*Annales Rodenses*. Around 1750, parchment leaves 3 and 6 were found to be so damaged that the text was illegible or barely legible. To replace them, using Heyendal’s copy, the text was transcribed onto sheets of paper pasted into the old manuscript. The watermark on these sheets of paper dates from 1728.

Shortly after Heyendal had produced his copy, he continued the history of Kloosterrade Abbey from the point where the chronicler had made his last entry in 1157. This work had been preceded by his copy of the Annales Rodenses, now titled Historia fundationis monasterii Rodensis. But his history is not limited to the account of the founding of Kloosterrade Abbey; it recounts the history of the abbey up to 1700, the year in which he himself resided there as chapel master. The title Annales Rodenses was first used in 1852 by the Liège philologist Edouard Lavalleye, who published Simon PieterErnst’s History of Limburg that year. The last of the seven volumes of this history of the Duchy of Limburg reproduces the Annales Rodenses in their entirety . He adds Heyendal’s continuation from 1700. At the beginning of this continuation of the history of Kloosterrade, Lavalleye refers to Heyendal as "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 12th-century codex.

The manuscript bears the handwriting of three different chroniclers. The most significant section, covering the period from 1104 to 1152, must have been written before 1160. The narrative style and commentary on the events described suggest that the chronicler who recorded these years was certainly a member of the monastic community and likely belonged to the second or third generation of monks. The accounts for the years 1153 and 1154 were likely written around 1160 or shortly thereafter. The supplementary summaries of events from 1154 to 1157 were written around 1180. It is interesting to note that each of the chroniclers represented the beginning of a year in his own way. For the period from 1104 to 1152, the chronicler uses the phrase "Anno Domini Incarnationis," "in the year of the Lord’s Incarnation." The years 1153 to 1156 begin with the single mention "Anno" followed by the year in Roman numerals. The final year, 1157, begins with the words “Anno Domini.” Other ways of indicating time in the chronicle include the use of the phrase “His diebus,” “In those days,” or “Eodem anno,” “In that year.” However, no particular pattern can be discerned in their use.

The first chronicler calls his work a *narratio*, a history, which can be characterized by its content and structure as a *historia fundationis*. Chronicles of this kind are widely known. They recount the founding of a city, a monastery, or an abbey—often in an edifying manner—and then, in chronological order, describe subsequent events and memories. These chronicles generally follow a preestablished pattern and usually begin with a vita, that is, a description of the life of the patron saint or the founder venerated as a saint. This opening 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 have a similar structure. Although there is no known explicit veneration of the founder Ailbertus and he was never beatified, the chronicle opens 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. Beloved “more than all others” from childhood, he vowed at a very early age to devote his life to God. Guided by supernatural 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 actions. By placing the founder prominently at the beginning of the chronicle, the chronicler in a sense transfers the aura of his supposed holiness to the abbey.

When Ailbertus left the monastery in 1111, the chronicle also changed, with the remainder now consisting solely of annual records of the expansion of the estate. In doing so, the descriptions pay close attention to the abbey’s benefactors. By 1153, the monastery had received about a hundred donations. With a few exceptions, all these donations consisted of estates and associated rights. A notable exception is the donation of a fragment of the Holy Cross, recorded under the year 1129 and made by Canon Heriman, son of Embrico of Mayschoss, who had received it from the pope during a visit to Rome. Heriman had presented himself in 1128 as a candidate to replace the superior Borno, who had resigned from his post at the insistence of Pope Honorius II. However, when the monks chose another superior, Heriman, “filled with shame,” left Kloosterrade. After wandering, he found himself in Denmark, where he entered the service of a bishop who sent him to Rome. It was there that he received from the pope the precious relic, which he donated to Kloosterrade “in memory of himself.”

When recording donations, the chronicler always follows the same pattern. He first mentions the name of the donor, then describes the property, specifying its exact location, and finally lists the rights and obligations 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 at that time, but it was always a traditio altari, at the altar. Thus, the abbey could dispose of it freely, and none of the monks was personally bound to the transferred property. Finally, in cases where the date of the donor’s death is known, it is recorded. In the case of new monks, this date is recorded as the day and month of their entry. The mention of the date of death is an important criterion for determining the manuscript’s date. Between 1141 and 1153, the monastic community consisted of 15 brothers and sisters. For three of them, a date of death prior to 1152 is mentioned. When the chronicler changed in that year, most of the monks were still alive. They would have been contemporaries of the chronicler.

Parents often made a donation to the abbey when their son or daughter entered religious life. Others donated property or rights in order to secure the canons’ prayers for their own salvation or that of their loved ones. 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, widow of Duke Walram I of Limburg. The chronicler mentions her donation in 1151. That year, she took the monastic 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 middle of the church in front of the Altar of the Cross,” right next to Mathilde, who had been the wife of her son Hendrik.

The abbey’s assets did not grow solely through donations. The Annales Rodenses also record the purchase of property. This is already mentioned under Ailbertus in 1109. Most of the purchases took place starting in 1141, the year Abbot Erpo began his reign. During his reign, which lasted at least until 1178, the abbey prospered in many respects.

In addition to recording acquisitions and transfers, the chronicler mentions on several occasions the deaths of popes, dukes, and emperors. He sometimes mentions events of an unusual nature, such as an earthquake in 1117 and the total solar eclipse of August 2, 1133, which is not explained as an astronomical phenomenon but attributed to the direct intervention of “God the Lord and His people,” who, through a sudden darkness, prevented the Christian army of Jerusalem from being completely massacred by the Turks. In 1146, these regions were ravaged by an unprecedented famine that caused grain prices to soar. That same year, the author reports Pope Eugene III’s call to join the Second Crusade. Two years later, he reports the return of the Crusaders, “without spiritual salvation and without victory.”

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

When the abbey was dissolved during the French period, Simon Pieter Ernst served as administrator of the monastic archives. He managed to hide numerous archival items, including the manuscript of the Annales Rodenses, from the French soldiers by keeping them safely in the Afden presbytery. After Canon Ernst’s death in 1817, the archivist of Aachen, Christian Quix, kept the manuscript for some time. After his death, the archives, including the Annales Rodenses, were put up for public sale. The offer of 20 talers made by the director of Rolduc, Henri Peters, was rejected, and for the significantly higher sum of 430 talers, the Royal Library of Berlin acquired all the documents. In 1949, the manuscript was returned, and since then, the Annales Rodenses have been preserved at the Limburg Historical Center.