Abstract
The fifteenth-century chronicle of Adam Usk (d.1430) is unique in several respects, in particular in the modes of narration that he employs. While other chronicles of the era employ covert forms of narration, in which an effaced and impersonal narrator presents a meaningful chronological narrative, in Adam’s chronicle there are frequent moments of overt narration in which he uses first person singular, provides detailed accounts of his personal spirituality, and uses strategies of internal focalisation, such as internal monologue and dreams, to narrate world events. Adam examines his individual place in the world, and does so within a genre in which such explorations are not expected. This article examines the intrusion of Adam into the chronicle narrative, both as an embodied being (a body travelling in the world he chronicles) and as a spiritual being, able to experience direct communication from god.
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For instance, Adam records in his chronicle, ‘because I was frequently in contact with them, King Henry was stirred to even greater fury with me when he heard about it’. Usk (1997), p. 215.
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For a full discussion of the various uses and interpretations of medieval labyrinths, see Kern (2000), esp. pp. 146–148.
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For a further discussion of Higden’s map, see Taylor (1966), esp. pp. 63–71.
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For further discussion of the Hereford map, see Reed Kline (2001).
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For instance, see the discussion by Chris Given-Wilson (2004), pp. 113–127.
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All translations from the Latin are my own. ‘Eodem anno in die sancti Albani in loco qui dicitur Pilale Wallici fraude circumvenerunt Anglicos interficientes ex eis mille quingentos captoque Edmundo le Mortimere a sua familia, ut dicitur, decepto et cum Owyno converso eius filiam desponsavit et in operacione istius cronice in eodem errore perseveravit.’ The Chronicle of Dieulacres Abbey 1381–1403 (1930), pp. 176–177.
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‘Hoc insuper anno, Audoenus de Glendour cepit Edmundum de Mortuo Mari, multis Anglicis de marchia Walliae interfectis. Et Rex congregato exercitu transivit in Walliam, ubi, prohibentibus maximis tempestatibus in Septembri tonitruorum, imbrium, et grandinis, equitare non potuerunt, et multi de exercitu frigore mortui sunt.’ Eulogium (Historiaum sive Temporis): Chronicon ab Orbe Condito Usque ad Annum Domini M.CCC.LXVI., A Monacho Quodam Malmesburiensi Exaratum. Accedunt Continuationes duae, Quarum una ad annum M.CCCC.XIII. Altera ad Annum M.CCC.XC, (1967, p. 394).
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See Genette (1980).
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Adam records, ‘at about this time [in 1399], there was born at Usk a calf which had two necks, two heads, four eyes and four ears; I remember seeing a similar one, which had been aborted, in my youth, in the parish of Llancayo, in the house of a women called Llugu the daughter of Watkin.’ Usk (1997), p. 87.
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For instance, Adam states: ‘And now, O God- you who have, in your infinite mercy, permitted me to complete with honour and profit my studies at Oxford, the three year course for my doctorate there, and thereafter my seven years in office as an advocate in the court of Canterbury.’ Usk 1997, p. 153.
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See James Hamilton Wylie in his History of England under Henry the Fourth, (1884–1898). The Pardon Rolls record that Adam was granted a pardon in 1403.
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Adam Usk writes ‘During this parliament, two valets of the king who were dining in London found, in five eggs which were served up to them, the exact likeness of men’s faces in every detail, the white having congealed and separated from the faces above the forehead in place of hair before passing down the jowls to the chin; one of which I saw.’ Usk 1997, p. 79.
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‘Stella comata hoc anno circa festum Purificacionis beate Marie in occidente visa est, que interpolatim durauit usque Pascha.’ Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi Secundi, (1977), p. 172.
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For example, in his seventh century text De Natura Rerum or On the Nature of Things, Isidore of Seville (d.636) in Chapter 71 ‘On the names of Stars’ gives the correct Greek etymology that ‘a comet is so called because it spreads light from itself as if it were hair. And when this kind of star appears it indicates pestilence, famine or war.’ From Edward Grant, ed., A Source Book in Medieval Science (1974), p. 16. As is described in the chapter ‘Of the fyre and of the sterres that seme to falle’ (Chapter 30) in Caxton’s Mirrour of the World, comets were regarded as out of place phenomena; ‘sparkles of fyre’ were created when there was a movement from the region of fire into the earthly sphere. Caxton’s Mirrour of the World (1913), p. 122.
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For instance the comet follows directly the passage: ‘In this year, when the king was at Worcester, he was discussing with his council what should be done against the aforementioned Owyn Glyndor and those who attached themselves to him, and whether the king himself in his own person ought to set out into Wales for that reason. At length it was decided that the king should first appoint sufficient guards in the castles and other fortified places of Wales, and return to London.’ (Hoc anno, dum esset rex apud Wigorn, pertractabat cum suo consilio, quid contra predictum Owynum <Glyndor> sibique adherentes agendum sit, et an ipse rex in propria persona ea uice in Walliam proficisci deberet. Tandem ad id uentum est, ut rex, ordinatis prius custodibus sufficientibus in castellis et aliis fortitudinibus Wallie, London rediret.) Historia Vitae (1977), pp. 171–172.
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‘Circa idem tempus stella comata apparuit in borialibus partibus Anglie. Que comata sintillas vertebat versus Walliam; et quidam estimant dictam cometam pronosticare bellum Salopie.’ The Chronicle of Dieulacres Abbey 1381–1403 (1930), p. 175.
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Adam’s full sentence runs: ‘I thought to myself how sad it was that this great Christian leader from the remote east had been driven by the power of the infidels to visit distant islands in the west in order to seek help against them.’ Usk 1997, p. 121.
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London, British Library, MSS Add. 10104. The Polychronicon occupies folio 9r-154v and Adam’s Chronicle follows directly at 155r and continues until 176v. Given-Wilson (1997), pp. xxxviii-xlii.
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The short version, which Taylor described as ‘CD’ finishes around 1327, while the later versions, ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘E’, end between 1340 and 1352. Taylor (1966), pp. 110–111.
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Adam records in Wales: ‘I hid away amongst the mountains and caves and woods and forests, hungry and thirsty, constantly afraid that I would be killed or captured or betrayed.’ Usk 1997, p. 239.
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For further discussion of the Great Schism (1378–1417), which divided the allegiance of Western Christendom between rival popes based at Avignon, Rome and after 1409, Pisa, see Gail (1972).
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For a further discussion see Partner (2005), pp. 42–64.
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Marchant, A. (2014). ‘Adam, you are in a Labyrinth’: The First-Person Voice as the Nexus Between Body and Spirit in the Chronicle of Adam Usk. In: Kambaskovic, D. (eds) Conjunctions of Mind, Soul and Body from Plato to the Enlightenment. Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9072-7_4
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