Adam of Bremen (also: Adam Bremensis) was one of the most important German medieval chroniclers. He lived and worked in the second half of the 11th century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church). The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... Generally a chronicle (Latin chronica) is historical account of facts and events in chronological order. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum is a historical treatise written between 1075 and 1080 by Adam of Bremen. ...

Background

Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles. He is believed to have come from Meissen (Latin Misnia) in Saxony. The dates of his birth and death are uncertain, but he was probably born before 1050 and died on October 12 of an unknown year (Possibly 1081, latest 1085). Gathering from his chronicles, he was well familiar with a number of authors. The honorary name of Magister Adam shows that he has passed through all the stages of a higher education. It is probable that he was taught at the Magdeburger Domschule. Old town of Meißen. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DED Capital Dresden Minister-President Georg Milbradt (CDU) Governing parties CDU / SPD Votes in Bundesrat 4 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  18,416 km² (7,110 sq mi) Population 4,252,000 (11/2006)[1]  - Density 231 /km... is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Corfu taken from Byzantine Empire by Robert Guiscard, Italy Byzantine emperor Nicephorus III is overthrown by Alexius I Comnenus, ending the Middle Byzantine period and beginning the Comnenan dynasty Alexius I helps defend Albania from the Normans (the first recorded mention of Albania), but is defeated at the Battle... April 2 - Emperor Zhezong became emperor of Song Dynasty. ... This article is about the German city. ...

In 1066 or 1067 he was invited by archbishop Adalbert of Bremen to join the Church of Bremen, since Adalbert believed he would improve the literary reputation of the diocese. Adam was accepted among the capitulars of Bremen, and by 1069 he appears as director of the cathedral's school. Soon thereafter he began to write the history of Bremen/Hamburg and of the northern lands in his Gesta. Adalbert of Bremen, (a. ... The Archbishopric of Bremen was an ecclesiastical state in the Holy Roman Empire. ... This article is about the city in Germany. ... This article is about the city in Germany. ...

His position and the missionary activity of the church of Bremen allowed him to gather all kinds of information on the history and the geography of northern Germany. A stay at the court of Svend Estridson gave him the opportunity to find information about the history and geography of Denmark, and the Scandinavian countries. Sweyn II Estridsson Ulfsson. ...

Bremen was a major trading town, and ships, traders and missionaries went from there to many different locations. The earlier archbishopric seat in Hamburg had been attacked and destroyed several times, and thereafter the sees of Hamburg and Bremen were combined for protection. For three hundred years, beginning with bishop Ansgar, the Hamburg-Bremen archbishopric had been designated as the "Mission of the North" and had jurisdiction over all missions in Scandinavia, North-Western Russia, Iceland and Greenland. Then the archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen had a falling-out with the pope and in 1105 a separate archbishopric for the North was established in Lund. For the city in Iowa, see St. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... Paschal II, né Ranierius (born in Bleda, near Forlì, Romagna - d. ... Events Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor deposed by his son, Henry V Tamna kingdom annexed by Korean Goryeo Dynasty. ...   IPA: is a city in SkÃ¥ne in southern Sweden. ...

Gesta

Adam of Bremen's best-known work is the Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church), which he began only after the death of the arch-bishop Adalbert. It consists of four volumes about the history of the archbishopry of Hamburg-Bremen, and the isles of the north. The first three mainly consist of history and the last one is mainly on geography. Adam based his works in part on Einhard, Cassiodorus, and other earlier historians, as he had the whole library of the church of Bremen at his fingertips. The first edition was completed in 1075/1076, but he continued to revise and update it until his death in the 1080s. Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum is a historical treatise written between 1075 and 1080 by Adam of Bremen. ... HIStory - Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double-disc album (one half greatest hits, one half studio album) by American musician Michael Jackson released in June of 1995 by the Epic Records division of Sony BMG. The first disc, (HIStory Begins) contains fifteen hit singles from the past... Einhard as scribe Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart) (born about 775 in the valley of the River Main, died March 14, 840, at Seligenstadt, Germany) was a Frankish historian and a dedicated servant of Charlemagne. ... Cassiodorus at his Vivarium library ( in Codex Amiatinus, 8th century). ...

The first book gives a history from 788 onwards of the Church in Hamburg-Bremen, and the Christian mission in the North. This is the chief source of knowledge of the North until the 13th century. The second book continues the history, and also deals with German history between 940 and 1045. The third book is about the deeds of archbishop Adalbert and is considered a milestone in medieval biographical writing. Events Charlemagne conquers Bavaria. ...

The fourth book, Descriptio insularum Aquilonis, completed approximately in 1075, is about the geography, people and customs of Scandinavia, as well as updates of the progress of Christian missionaries there. Adam was a supporter of converting the Northern people. Scandinavia had only just recently been explored by missionaries, and since the fourth book was perhaps created to inspire and guide future missionaries, its detailed descriptions make it one of the most important sources about pre-Christian Scandinavia. It is also the first known European record that mentions Vinland (Winland) island (insulam), a land centuries later known as Newfoundland, Canada, North America. Events Revolt of the Earls. ... Vinland (Old Icelandic: Plain land ) was the name given to an area of North America by the norseman Leif Eiríksson, about the year (AD) 1000. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ...

See also

• Vinland
• Chronicon Slavorum
• Temple at Uppsala
• Birca
• Terra Feminarum

Vinland (Old Icelandic: Plain land ) was the name given to an area of North America by the norseman Leif Eiríksson, about the year (AD) 1000. ... Chronicon Slavorum (Chronica Slavorum) is a historical record attributed to Helmold. ... The Temple at Uppsala was a temple in Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala), near modern Uppsala, Sweden, that was created to worship the Norse gods of ancient times. ... Birka, also Birca and Bierkø (today named Björkö, literally Birch Island), was an important trading center in the Baltic Sea region from the 8th century, which handled goods from Eastern Europe and the Orient, possibly as far as China, thus covering most of the Viking Age. ... Terra feminarum (Woman Land) is a name for a land in Fennoscandia that appears in Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church) by Adam of Bremen 1075 CE. It was probably a mistranslation of Kvenland and located in southern Finland. ...

Sources

• Adam of Bremen, History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen, English translation by F.J. Tschan, Columbia UP, 2002, ISBN 0-231-12575-5.
• Edition of the Gesta by Bernhard Schmeidler, Digitale Bibliothek der Monumenta Germaniae Historica 1917, including current edition of the latin text
• Adam of Bremen, History of Hamburg's Bishops, short online text. English.
• Adam of Bremen, Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, online text. German.
• Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, online text. Latin.