'''Adam of Bremen''' (also: '''Adam Bremensis''') was one of the most important [[Germany|German]] [[medieval]] [[chronicler]]s. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle ''[[Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum|Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum]]'' (''Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church'').

==Background==
Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles. He is believed to have come from [[Meissen]] ([[Latin]] ''Misnia'') in [[Saxony]]. The dates of his birth and death are uncertain, but he was probably born before 1050 and died on [[October 12]] of an unknown year (Possibly 1081, latest 1085). Gathering from his chronicles, he was familiar with a number of authors. The honorary name of ''Magister Adam'' shows that he has passed through all the stages of a higher education. It is probable that he was taught at the ''[[Magdeburg]]er Domschule''.

In 1066 or 1067 he was invited by archbishop [[Adalbert of Bremen]] to join the [[Archbishopric of Bremen|Church of Bremen]], since Adalbert believed he would improve the literary reputation of the diocese. Adam was accepted among the capitulars of Bremen, and by 1069 he appears as director of the cathedral's school. Soon thereafter he began to write the history of [[Bremen (city)|Bremen]]/[[Hamburg]] and of the northern lands in his ''Gesta''.

His position and the missionary activity of the church of Bremen allowed him to gather all kinds of information on the history and the geography of northern [[Germany]]. A stay at the court of [[Svend Estridson]] gave him the opportunity to find information about the history and geography of Denmark, and the Scandinavian countries.

Bremen was a major trading town, and ships, traders and missionaries went from there to many different locations. The earlier archbishopric seat in Hamburg had been attacked and destroyed several times, and thereafter the sees of Hamburg and Bremen were combined for protection. For three hundred years, beginning with bishop [[Ansgar]], the Hamburg-Bremen archbishopric had been designated as the "Mission of the North" and had jurisdiction over all missions in [[Scandinavia]], North-Western [[Russia]], [[Iceland]] and [[Greenland]]. Then the archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen had a falling-out with [[Pope Paschal II|the pope]] and in [[1105]] a separate archbishopric for the North was established in [[Lund]].

==Gesta==
Adam of Bremen's best-known work is the ''[[Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum|Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum]]'' (''Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church''), which he began only after the death of the arch-bishop Adalbert. It consists of four volumes about the history of the archbishopry of Hamburg-Bremen, and the isles of the north. The first three mainly consist of [[history]] and the last one is mainly on [[geography]]. Adam based his works in part on [[Einhard]], [[Cassiodorus]], and other earlier historians, as he had the whole library of the church of Bremen at his fingertips. The first edition was completed in 1075/1076, but he continued to revise and update it until his death in the 1080s.

The first book gives a history from [[788]] onwards of the Church in Hamburg-Bremen, and the Christian mission in the North. This is the chief source of knowledge of the North until the thiteenth century. The second book continues the history, and also deals with German history between 940 and 1045. The third book is about the deeds of archbishop Adalbert and is considered a milestone in medieval biographical writing.

The fourth book, ''Descriptio insularum Aquilonis'', completed approximately in [[1075]], is about the geography, people and customs of Scandinavia, as well as updates of the progress of Christian missionaries there. Adam was a supporter of converting the Northern people. Scandinavia had only just recently been explored by missionaries, and since the fourth book was perhaps created to inspire and guide future missionaries, its detailed descriptions make it one of the most important sources about pre-Christian Scandinavia. It is also the first known European record that mentions [[Vinland]] (Winland) island (insulam), a land centuries later known as Newfoundland, Canada, [[North America]].

==See also==
* [[Vinland]]
* [[Chronicon Slavorum]]
* [[Temple at Uppsala]]
* [[Birca]]
* [[Terra Feminarum]]

==Sources==
* Adam of Bremen, ''History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen'', English translation by F.J. Tschan, Columbia UP, 2002, ISBN 0-231-12575-5.
*[http://mdz10.bib-bvb.de/~db/bsb00000756/images/index.html?seite=2 Edition of the Gesta by Bernhard Schmeidler, Digitale Bibliothek der Monumenta Germaniae Historica 1917], including current edition of the Latin text
* Adam of Bremen, [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/gesta/index.php ''History of Hamburg's Bishops''], short online text. English.
* Adam of Bremen, [[s:de:ADB:Adam von Bremen|''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'']], online text. German.
* Adam of Bremen, [http://hbar.phys.msu.su/gorm/chrons/bremen.htm ''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum''], online text. Latin.

[[Category:Chroniclers]]
[[Category:German writers]]
[[Category:11th century births]]
[[Category:1080s deaths]]
[[Category:People from Saxony]]

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