SIMEON OF DURHAM

English chronicler; d. c. 1130–38. He entered the Benedictine monastery at jarrow probably soon after 1071. When Jarrow was transferred to Durham (1083), Simeon made his profession there, in 1085 or 1086. He eventually became precentor. According to the monastery's obituary, Simeon died on October 14, between 1130 and 1138. Between 1104 and 1108 Simeon compiled the Historia Ecclesiae Dunelmensis. This work traces the history of the See of durham from its beginnings to 1096, when Abbot William of St. Cerilef died. It depends on bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People and Life of St. Cuthbert. Simeon's history of England, Historia Anglorum et Dacorum, is divided into three sections. The first covers the period from 732 to 957, and is based primarily on the Annales Alfredi of asser; it contains valuable information on the north country. The second section extends to 1119, and utilizes the Chronicon of florence of worcester. The third section (covering 1119–29) is an original work on contemporary history. Some minor works and letters are now lost. All his works have been edited by Thomas Arnold; his historical writings have been translated into English by Joseph Stevenson.

Bibliography: Symeonis Monachi opera omnia, ed. t. arnold, 2 v. (Rerum Brittanicarum medii aevi scriptores ; 1882–85). j. stevenson, "S. of D.," The Church Historians of England, v.3.2 (1855). c. gross, The Sources and Literature of English History (2d ed. London 1915). c. l. kingsford, The Dictionary of National Biography from the Earliest Times to 1900, 63 v. (London 1885–1900) 18:254–255. f. l. cross, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (London 1957) 1256. p. h. blair, "Some Observations on the Historia …," Celt and Saxon: Studies in Early British Border, ed. k. h. jackson et al. (Cambridge, Eng. 1963) 63–118.

[m. a. mulholland]