Florence 1 of Worcester
(b? d 1118)

A twelfth century English chronicler about whom the following facts are known; that he was a monk of Worcester and that he died in 1118.

He is traditionally regarded as the author of the Chronicon ex Chronicis (Chronicle of Chronicles) notable for being both the first historical work of any importance to be written outside Northumbria and for being the first attempt in England to write a Universal Chronicle. 2


NOTES

1The name Florence is from the Latin Florentius; the masculine derivative of florens or flourishing, the feminine form being Florentia. It was a popular male name during the Middle Ages, but became almost exclusively a female name in the nineteenth century due to the fame of one Florence Nightingale

2A Universal Chronicle being a complete history of the world from the creation onwards encompassing the entire known world.


SOURCES

Onomastic information on the derivation of the name Florence from A Dictionary of First Names by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges (Oxford University Press, 1990) quoted at http://www.xrefer.com/entry/566521

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).

The Catholic Encyclopedia at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/