Table Of ContentTHE CHRONICLE OF NOVALESE: TRANSLATION, TEXT AND LITERARY
ANALYSIS
Elizabeth Artemis Clark
A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
Department of Classics.
Chapel Hill
2017
Approved by:
Robert G. Babcock
Marcus G. Bull
Francis Newton
James J. O’Hara
James B. Rives
© 2017
Elizabeth Artemis Clark
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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ABSTRACT
Elizabeth Artemis Clark: The Chronicle of Novalese: Translation, Text and Literary
Analysis
(Under the direction of Robert G. Babcock)
This dissertation is a study of the Chronicle of Novalese (Chronicon
Novaliciense), an 11th- century history of the monastery in Novalesa, Italy. There have
been two major modern editions of the Chronicle (Bethmann, Cipolla), and one
translation of the work into Italian (Alessio). The dissertation presents the first full
English translation of the Chronicle, the Latin text, and an analysis of the Chronicle’s
relationship with the 9th- (10th-) century epic poem Waltharius. Previously, there have
been only a few English translations of brief sections of the Chronicle, taken primarily
from Book II. I offer the complete English translation of all five books and the appendix
in order to facilitate a broader access to the work as a whole for both the general and the
academic reader. I include the Latin text, following that of Bethmann, and collating it
against the lone manuscript, a rotulus, or roll, housed in the State Archives of Turin. I
examine the connection between Book II of the Chronicle and the Waltharius.
Employing a close comparison of the relevant lines of the two works, I find that the
anonymous chronicler changed the epic poem in deliberate and meaningful ways. With
these changes, the chronicler has expanded for his monastery the story of the epic hero
Walter, who, according to the chronicler’s new narrative, became a monk at Novalese.
Given the analysis of these changes, I suggest that there is value in a further examination
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of the chronicler’s methods in his treatment of the other portions of the Chronicle, which
include small episodes concerning women, various accounts of political pressures on the
monastery, stories and legends of the area, and tales of Charlemagne.
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To Sara Mack
and
to Steve Peretti.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Bob Babcock, who has been unfailing in his support and guidance of this high
school Latin teacher and part-time grad student since 2008. Charlie Register, who in his
role of technical wizard has saved me and my dissertation from myself more times than
he would like to remember. And John Taylor, who for thirty-five years has been a friend,
supporter, travel companion, and patron extraordinaire.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1
CHAPTER 1: ENGLISH TRANSLATION .....................................................................14
Book I: ..................................................................................................................14
Book II: .................................................................................................................18
Book III: ................................................................................................................51
Book IV: ................................................................................................................74
Book V: ..................................................................................................................79
Appendix to the Chronicle: .................................................................................109
CHAPTER 2: LATIN TEXT ..........................................................................................127
Book I: ................................................................................................................127
Book II: ...............................................................................................................131
Book III: ..............................................................................................................167
Book IV: ..............................................................................................................191
Book V: ...............................................................................................................195
Appendix to the Chronicle: .................................................................................226
CHAPTER 3: THE SECTION OF THE CHRONICLE “QUOTED”
FROM THE WALTHARIUS ...................................................................245
Introduction ..........................................................................................................245
Walter as Warrior .................................................................................................255
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Walter, Attila and Ospirin ....................................................................................279
Walter and Hildegund ..........................................................................................305
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................328
CHAPTER 4: THE DEPENDENCE OF THE CHRONICLE ON THE
WALTHARIUS OUTSIDE THE “QUOTED” SECTION ........................330
The “Paraphrased” Section ..................................................................................331
The “Monastic” Section .......................................................................................341
APPENDIX: COMPARISON OF TEXTS: THE CHRONICLE II.9.3-185 AND
THE WALTHARIUS 93-578 ....................................................................361
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................409
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INTRODUCTION
The Chronicle of Novalese
Elizabeth A. Clark
The monastery of Novalese lies in the Susa Valley in northwest Italy. It was founded
in 726, destroyed by the Saracens in 906, and rebuilt and restored to the monks by the
abbot Gezo in 1000. Shortly thereafter, in the mid-11th century, one of Novalese’s monks
compiled a history of his monastery. The lone manuscript of this history, known as the
Chronicon Novaliciense and considered to be the autograph (at least in part), was housed
at Novalese until 1693, and is now stored in the State Archives of Turin.1 It is in the
form of a parchment roll, a rotulus, containing 28 leaves of irregular lengths sewn end to
end. The rotulus is 11.7 meters long, and varies in width from 8.5 to 11 cm., with an
average width of 10 cm.
The roll today is not complete. Its five books survive in varying states of
completeness, and each book contains chapter titles which do not always align with the
extant chapters. The titles themselves are separate from the chapter text and are listed as
indices at the beginning of each book. Some titles are numbered; some are not. Books I
and IV of the Chronicle survive in a fragmentary state, due to the loss of some of the
original leaves. Books II and III are complete. We possibly have Book V in its entirety,
but the chapter titles of Book V do not align with its chapters, and the book ends fairly
1 Archivio di Stato di Torino (nuova collocazione: ‘Museo’, s.n.).
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abruptly, suggesting to some scholars that the Chronicle was not completed (that is to
say, Book V might be unfinished; it does not appear to be fragmentary—there do not
appear to be leaves lost from Book V).2 The manuscript also contains at the end, as an
appendix, a series of documents. These documents are marked with symbols in such a
way that they could be inserted at specific places within the Chronicle, and there is good
reason to think that the author wished them to be inserted at these places.3 The author is
anonymous, but was a monk of the community, and says in the Chronicle that he was
born of noble parents and moved with his family among Breme, Pavia, Turin, and
Novalese.4
When the Chronicle was in a more complete state, it was seen by early modern
scholars, who summarized some of the now lost passages. In the 16th century, Filbert
Pignon saw the rotulus, but reported only on the first two leaves. It was shortly thereafter
excerpted by Guglielmo Baldessano, who saw it when it was already missing some of its
leaves, those which encompassed the first six chapters. It was edited three times between
the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, by Combetti in 1843,5 Bethmann in 1846,6 and
Cipolla in 1901.7 There is a more recent edition with Italian translation by Gian Carlo
Alessio in 1982.8 There are a few brief modern studies, only a handful in English.9
2 Bethmann, “Hinc apparere videtur, opus non fuisse absolutum…” p. 75.
3 Combetti placed these sections within the text in his edition. In their editions, Bethmann and Cipolla left
them at the end of the Chronicle, as an appendix, as they appear in the manuscript.
4 Chronicle, Book V.
5 Combetti, C. Chronicon Novaliciense. Taurino [Ex regio typographeo].
6 Bethmann, L. Chronicon Novaliciense. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores 7.
7 Cipolla, C. Monumenta novaliciense vetustiora: VIII. Chronicon.
8 Alessio, G. Cronaca di Novalesa.
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