Chronicon Wormatiense
The Chronicon Wormatiense is a fragmentary anonymous Latin chronicle of the city of Worms, Germany. It was probably composed in the last quarter of the 13th century. There is an English translation by David Bachrach. The original text of the "Chronicon" does not survive complete. The definitive critical edition, superseding earlier ones, such as the MGH edition, was published by in 1893. The most important two manuscripts are a 16th-century codex from Darmstadt and an 18th-century codex from Frankfurt. The edited "Chronicon" contains a short introductory paragraph on the Merovingian period. Then follows a chronological account  of the years 1221–1261 plus comments on 1297 and 1298. The full extent of the original is not known. If the notes on 1297–1298 were added later, then the original may have been completed as early as the 1260s. The "Chronicon" combines features of two genres. On the one hand, it resembles a "gesta episcoporum", a collection of short biographies of a succession of bishops, a genre which originates with the collection of papal biographies known as the "Liber pontificalis". On the other hand, it resembles a municipal history, like the contemporary "Annales Wormatienses". In fact, the "Chronicon" complements the  Annales. It is the work of a clergyman written from the perspective of the bishop of Worms, while the "Annales" is the work of a layman whose perspective is that of the city council. One of the purposes of the anonymous author is to defend the properties, rights and prerogatives of the bishop, and to show that the interests of the citizens are best advanced under the protection of a strong bishop. As in a "gesta", documents are frequently cited and sometimes copied or excerpted into the narrative to substantiate a claim. Unlike a "gesta", the narrative is not organized  by the lives or reigns of the bishops. The anonymous author of the "Chronicon" does not leave a personal imprint on his work. He never claims to be an eyewitness or to have received his information from eyewitnesses. Where his citations and quotations of documents can be checked, he proves to be completely accurate. He probably worked for the bishop. The bishops whose reigns he covers are Henry II (1217–1234), Landolf (1234–1247), Richard (1247–1257), and Eberhard (1257–1277). The "Chronicon" can be divided as follows: