Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Florence of Worcester

FLORENCE, of Worcester, an English chronicler who lived during the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century. Nothing more is known of him than that he was a monk of Worcester, that he had a great reputation for learning, and that he died on the 5th June 1118. His Chronicle begins with the creation of the world and ends with the year of his death. The earlier part is compiled from the Chronicle of Marianus Scotus, and the greater part of that which relates to English history is a translation from the Saxon Chronicle; but as he approaches his own times the independent value of his work increases, and in regard to contemporary events he is one of the most valuable of existing authorities. The Chronicle of Florence was continued from 1118 to 1141 by an anonymous writer.

An edition of the Chronicle was published at London in 1592, and another at Frankfort in 1601. It is also included in the Collection of Historians, edited by order of the Records Commission; and a translation with notes by Thos. Forester is contained in Bohn’s Antiquarian Library.