Abbot Walter Bower | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Inchcolm Abbey | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1385 |
| Died | 24 December 1449 (aged about 65) |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation | Canon regular and chronicler |
Walter Bower (orBowmaker;c. 1385 – 24 December 1449) was a Scottishcanon regular andabbot ofInchcolm Abbey in theFirth of Forth, who is noted as achronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 atHaddington, East Lothian, in theKingdom of Scotland.[1] In 1991,Donald Watt said of Bower'sScotichronicon that "We are more and more convinced that this book is one of the national treasures of Scotland, which should be studied in depth for many different kinds of enquiry into Scotland's past."[2]
Some sources say that, at the age of eighteen, Bower assumed the religious habit; he was trained at theUniversity of St Andrews. After finishing his philosophical and theological studies, he visited Paris to study law.[3][4] Bower was unanimously theabbot of theAugustinian community onInchcolm in 1417.[1] He also acted as one of the commissioners for the collection of theransom of KingJames I of Scotland in 1423 and 1424. Later, in 1433, he took part in a diplomatic mission to Paris to discuss the possibility of marriage of the king's daughter to theDauphin of France. He played an important part at the Council of Perth of 1432 in the defence of Scottish rights.[5]
During Bower's closing years he was engaged on his work, theScotichronicon, on which his reputation now chiefly rests. This work, undertaken in 1440 by desire of a neighbour, Sir David Stewart ofRosyth Castle, was a continuation of theChronica Gentis Scotorum ofJohn of Fordun. The completed work, in its original form, consisted of sixteen books, of which the first five and a portion of the sixth (to 1163) are Fordun's — or mainly his, for Bower added to them in places. In the later books, down to the reign ofRobert I (1371), he was aided by Fordun'sGesta Annalia, but from that point to the close the work is original and of contemporary importance, especially for James I, with whose death it ends. The task was finished in 1447.[5]
In the two remaining years of Bower's life he was engaged on a reduction or "abridgment" of this work, which is known as theBook of Cupar, and is preserved in theAdvocates Library, Edinburgh (MS. 35. 1. 7). Other abridgments, not by Bower, were made about the same time, one about 1450 (perhaps byPatrick Russell, aCarthusianmonk ofPerth), also preserved in the Advocates' library (MS. 35. 6. 7) and another in 1461 by an unknown writer, preserved in the same collection (MS. 35. 5. 2). Copies of the full text of theScotichronicon, by different scribes, still exist. There are two in theBritish Library, inThe Black Book of Paisley, and inHarley MS 712; one in the Advocates Library, from whichWalter Goodall printed his edition (Edin., 1759), and one in the library ofCorpus Christi College, Cambridge.[5]
See alsoW. F. Skene's edition of Fordun in the series ofHistorians of Scotland (1871). Personal references are to be found in theExchequer Rolls of Scotland, iii. and iv.[5]
A revised and updated translation of Bower's work was produced under the leadership of ProfessorD. E. R. Watt, in nine volumes, published between 1987 and 1997. The critical edition of Bower's Latin text in Watt et al. has been amended and corrected by Chris Nighman in light of the discovery that Bower made extensive use of Thomas of Ireland's collection of authoritative quotations, theManipulus florum (1306).[6]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.| Religious titles | ||
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| Preceded by Laurence | Abbot of Inchcolm 1417–1449 | Succeeded by John Kers |
