The universal chronicle Chronica Majora, composed by the English Benedictine monk Matthew Paris (c. 1200-1259), includes numerous passages on environmental events such as storms, floods, droughts, earthquakes, atmospheric disturbances, and shifting temperatures. The chronicle covers the history of the world from Creation to the year 1259. The presentation will discuss the interrelations between the textual descriptions of environmental events and the scientific diagrams of winds, climate zones, and ocean tides included in the Chronica Majora and other manuscripts in Matthew’s hand. By placing the descriptions of environmental events into the wider context of the Chronica, the presentation will explore how they are introduced into different temporalities and timescales.
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Taran Palmstrøm Fenn is a PhD student in intellectual history at the University of Oslo. Her background includes a MA-degree in European intellectual history and culture, French and Latin. Fenn is in Rome to work on her research project and to attend courses on Medieval Latin, paleography and codicology under the aegis of The Fédération Internationale des Instituts d’Etudes Médiévales (FIDEM) that is hosted by the Norwegian Institute in Rome this semester.