Patronage

The prologue begins by naming the patron who commissioned the work:

The count of Auvergne in 1244 was William X (r. 1222–1247), who is generally taken to have commissioned the work.^[12][13][14] Maria Theresa Rachetta, however, suggests that the Chroniques is "too eccentric for a layman of modest means who lived most of his life on a restricted territorial allowance" and proposes that the word "quens" (count) is an interpolation. In her view, the original patron was William of Auvergne, bishop of Paris, and the work was produced for or in response to the Trial of the Talmud (1240).^[15]

Content

The title Chroniques de la Bible is found in a colophon.^[16] The explicit labels the text "la bible en franchois" ('the Bible in French'). An addition made to the manuscript in lettre bâtarde in the fifteenth century describes it as "la descricion veritable de Josephus par forme de chroniques" ('the true description of Josephus in the form of chronicles').^[5] Moses, in the prologue and in a few other places, refers to his work only as the Livre, 'book', which is the title adopted by Maria Theresa Rachetta.^[16]

The purpose of the Chroniques is given in the prologue. Moses' patron wanted "to know the beginning and the unfolding of the lineages since the creation of the world, as well as the battles which were fought in ancient times." To this Moses has added much speculation on the future of the world.^[5] Chronologically, the work begins with the generations of Noah and ends in 8 BC during the reign of Herod the Great.^[17]

According to Moses, Francion, the founder of the Frankish nation, was a son of Gomer, son of Japheth. This contradicts the then popular legend of the Franks' Trojan origins. Moses then discusses the histories of the ancient Babylonian and Persian empires, drawing mainly from the biblical books of Daniel and Esther.^[18] He follows this with a description of 27^{[lower-alpha 1]} books of the "donated testament" (i.e., the Jewish Bible), a brief description of Christianity based on the books of the New Testament and a brief irenic description of Islam.^[20][21] He claims that the 38^{[lower-alpha 2]} books of the Hebrew Bible are accepted as truth by not just Jews and Christians, but Muslims, Albigensians and Mongols.^[19]

The first historical section is followed by a long exposition of the visions of Daniel. Moses' interpretation of the four beasts follows Jerome's Commentary on Daniel.^[20] Interpreting the prophecy of seventy weeks, he predicts the dawn of the Messianic age in 1290, coming to fruition in 1335. The year 1290 is also found in the prediction of his contemporary, Abraham Abulafia, although there is no evidence that he knew of it.^[22]

The final two thirds of the text covers the reign of Alexander the Great and his successors down to Herod.^[20][23] Moses occasionally suppresses information in his source that he regards as legendary, such as Alexander's being the son of Pharaoh Nectanebo II.^[24] The Chroniques ends abruptly with the story of King Archelaus of Cappadocia reconciling Herod to his son Alexander.^[20]

Sources

Moses identifies his sources as the Bible, the writings of Josephus (which he calls "la verite de Josephe", 'the truth of Josephus') and the legends of Alexander the Great.^[5] Although Moses' material goes back to Josephus' Jewish Antiquities and Jewish Wars, they were not his direct source. He relied upon the Hebrew Sefer Yosippon, which was regarded as an authentic work of Josephus in his time. It was in fact produced in the tenth century from Latin translations of Josephus' Greek writings, including that known as Pseudo-Hegesippus.^[23]

The first section dealing with the generations of Noah and history down to the time of the Persian empire is derived from the Sefer Yosippon, as is the long final section covering the period from Alexander to Herod. The middle sections are derived from the Bible and perhaps from "prophetic compendia or commentaries".^[19] The material translated and heavily abridged from the Sefer Yosippon represents "the sole pre-modern version ... in a European vernacular."^[23]

Manuscript

The Chroniques is preserved in a single deluxe illuminated manuscript of the late thirteenth century, now in The Hague, Royal Library of the Netherlands, 131 A 3.^[25] It was produced in northeastern France or in Flanders.^[5] It contains 123 folios. The scribe appears to have worked quickly, resulting in a text riddled with errors. He may have been copying from the "unrevised" or "unfinished" autograph.^[26]

The script style is littera textualis.^[5] The text is written in the Latin alphabet, whereas most Jewish texts in French were written in the Hebrew alphabet. Only two other medieval French texts of Jewish origin are known that were written in the Latin alphabet: Hagin le Juif's translation of Abraham ibn Ezra for Henry Bate of Mechelen (1273) and a translation of the Hebrew Alexander legend Sefer Alexandros Mokdon (fourteenth century).^[6]

The text is divided into paragraphs marked by decorated initials.^[23] The section on Daniel's visions contains high quality illustrations designed for the text.^[19] The text occasionally refers to the illustrations, which follow it faithfully even where it diverges from the Vulgate Bible.^[1] Some illustrations have French captions, some Latin.^[27]

The illustrator may have been the Meliacin Master [Wikidata], who was active between about 1280 and 1310.^[28][29] This puts the copying of the text in or shortly before the period 1290–1335, identified in the text as the start of the Messianic age.^[12] The patron or commissioner of the manuscript is unknown, but may have been related to the patron of the text.^[12][28] Margaret Alison Stones suggests one of William X's nephews, Archbishop Guy of Vienne or Bishop-elect William of Liège, or else his younger son, Bishop Guy of Tournai, brother of the ruling counts William XI and Robert VI [fr].^[28]