The chronicle of Arnold, Abbot of the monastery of St John of Lübeck, is one of the most important sources for the history of Germany in the central Middle Ages, and is also probably the major source for German involvement in the Crusades. The work was intended as a continuation of the earlier chronicle of Helmold of Bosau, and covers the years 1172–1209, in seven books. It was completed soon after the latter date, and the author died not long afterwards, and no later than 1214. It is thus a strictly contemporary work, which greatly enhances its value.
Abbot Arnold’s very readable chronicle provides a fascinating glimpse into German society in the time of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his immediate successors, into a crucial period of the Crusading movement, and also into the religious mentality of the Middle Ages.
Maps
Genealogical Charts
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
The Chronicle of Arnold of Lübeck
Book I
Book II
Book III
Book IV
Book V
Book VI
Book VII
Appendix: Frederick II’s Privilege for Lübeck 1226
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Graham A. Loud is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Leeds, where he was Head of the School of History 2012–15. He holds a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship 2017–19, during which he is working on a book about the social history of the principality of Salerno, c.1020–1300, as revealed by the charters of the abbey of Holy Trinity, Cava. Among his previous books are The Age of Robert Guiscard. Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest (Harlow 2000), The Latin Church in Norman Italy (Cambridge 2007), Roger II and the Creation of the Kingdom of Sicily (Manchester 2012), and The Origins of the German Principalities, 1100–1350, edited with Jochen Schenk (Routledge 2017). He has also translated The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa for the series ‘Crusade Texts in Translation’ (2010).
