born c. 1280, western England
died March 12, 1364, Chester, Cheshire
English monk and chronicler remembered for his
Polychronicon, a compilation of
much of the knowledge of his age.
After taking monastic vows in 1299, Higden
entered the Abbey of St. Werburgh, a Benedictine
community in Chester. His Polychronicon was a
universal history from the Creation to his own
times. Modeling his seven books on the seven
days of Creation, he gave an account of world
geography and a universal history of the world,
based on a compilation from about 40 sources.
Higden himself carried the work down to the
1340s; continuators worked on the Polychronicon
during the reign of Richard II (1377–99).
Although
marred by recordings of miracles and
supernatural events, the work provides a
significant indication of 14th-century
historical, geographic, and scientific
knowledge. Higden wrote many other works, all
theological.
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